Dr Ritsuko Kakuma

Associate Professor in Global Mental Health, Programme Director for MSc in Global Mental Health, Director of CGMH

 

Ritz Kakuma is an Associate Professor in Global Mental Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and co-Programme Director and co-Director for the joint MSc in Global Mental Health and the Centre for Global Mental Health. She is also a Visiting Teacher at Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from McMaster University in Canada (1996), MSc and PhD degrees in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University (2000 and 2008), an International Master’s in Health Technology Assessment and Management from McGill University (audit; 2003), and did a postdoctoral fellowships through the Centre for Addition and Mental Health at University of Toronto and University of Cape Town (2007-2009). She was a Senior Research Fellow at the Global and Cultural Mental Health Unit (formerly the Centre for International Mental Health), Centre for Mental Health at the University of Melbourne between 2010 and 2017 before joining LSHTM in January 2018.

She has studied and worked in mental health policy and system strengthening and research since 2000 and more so in global mental health - with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region and sub-Saharan Africa - since 2007. She has worked closely with governments to advise on policy development, mental health services and policy research, programme evaluation as well as leadership training for over 15 years. She is currently the capacity building workstream lead for the FCDO-funded Research Programme Consortium, SUCCEED (Support, Comprehensive Care and Empowerment of People with Psychosocial Disabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa), and the capacity building work package and theme co-lead for the STOP NCD Global Health Research Centers collaboration.

ritsuko [dot] kakuma [at] lshtm [dot] ac [dot] uk (@Email)