GMH@Harvard: “How Did I Get Here?” Career Paths in Global Mental Health Series – Research focus

The October 22nd webinar will focus on panelists speaking about their global mental health research career paths.

Click here to register for the Zoom link!

Panelists:

• Dr. Christina Borba, Associate Professor, Boston University School of Medicine
  Director of Research Department of Psychiatry; Director, Global and Local Center for Mental Health Disparities, Boston Medical Center
• Dr. Goodman Sibeko, Co-Director, South Africa HIV Addiction Technology Transfer Centre Head: Division of Addiction Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town
• Dr. Brandon Kohrt, Charles and Sonia Akman Professor in Global Psychiatry; Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Global Health; Director, Division of Global Mental Health, George Washington University
• Dr. Magda Cepeda, Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics – Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

Moderated by:

• Saloni Dev, Graduate Research Assistant, Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research; Population Health Doctoral Candidate | Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University; SPIRIT South Asia Implementation Research in Mental Health Fellow

The purpose of the panel webinar series is to highlight and learn from the career paths of individuals who have been successful in diverse aspects of global mental health work. These seminars will seek to connect students and interested individuals to professionals in the field by understanding their career paths and how their passion and experiences led them to pursue a career in global mental health. It also serves to encourage individuals to find their own path in the global mental health community.

The structure will be a facilitated panel discussion of three-four individuals who will be asked questions about their experience and advice they have for students and early career professionals. There will also be time for audience questions and discussion.

Speaker Bios:

Christina P.C. Borba, PhD, MPH is Director of Research for the Department of Psychiatry at Boston Medical Center. Until 2016, she was the Director of Research at the MGH Division of Global Psychiatry. She is an Assistant in Psychology (Psychiatry) at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant in Research at MGH. Dr. Borba has extensive experience in mixed methods research, teaching and training, and development and management of randomized clinical trials. Dr. Borba’s current research focuses on psychotic disorders and cultural psychiatry in low-resourced settings in the US and abroad, women’s mental health, and gender differences in care. Dr. Borba is currently examining socio-cultural aspects of schizophrenia in Ethiopia with a goal of understanding why the disease prevalence ratio has been found to be 5:1 male to female (a statistic unlike any other in the world). She is also involved in ongoing efforts in Liberia to increase local research capacity with the University of Liberia, and to identify and conduct priority mental health-related research with in-country academic leaders. In her role as Director of Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Borba works to expand departmental research capacity through research education initiatives for residents and medical students, mentorship of junior faculty, new faculty recruitment and the expansion of research infrastructure capacity within the department. She supervises and provides research-related trainings for all research teams within the Department of Psychiatry.

Goodman Sibeko, MBChB, PhD has a medical degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a doctorate from University of Cape Town. He specialises in peer-run interventions for caregivers and non-specialist workers in the management of severe mental illness. As Co-Director of the South Africa HIV ATTC, he oversees all day-to-day operations and leads liaison activities with local and international stakeholders and partners. He leads training and technical assistance activities related to substance use, HIV, and mental health. Dr. Sibeko is the author of “Mental Health Training for Community Health Workers” which is used by the South Africa HIV ATTC as a core curriculum to help organisations improve mental health care as a means of reducing HIV risk and improving HIV treatment outcomes.

Brandon Kohrt, MD, PhD, holds the Charles and Sonia Akman Professorship in Global Psychiatry at George Washington University, where he is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Global Health, and Anthropology, and Director of the Division of Global Mental Health. Dr. Kohrt has worked with children and families affected by war and political violence, disasters, and other forms of adversity around the world. Dr. Kohrt’s work also addresses reducing stigma in healthcare settings to improve the quality of mental health services. He co-edited the book, Global Mental Health: Anthropological Perspectives.

Magda Cepeda, MD, MPH, PhD is a medical doctor from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, magister in Epidemiology from Universidad del Valle, magister in Public Health and doctor in Epidemiology from Erasmus University Rotterdam. In her research career she has focused on public health issues such as the role of the environment in health. Also, she has worked as a professor and developing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Currently, she is the coordinator of an NIMH-funded project, led by Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia and Dartmouth College in the US, where they implement an innovative technology-based model of care, aimed at increasing the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with depression and unhealthy alcohol use in primary care in Colombia.