GALENOS: Global Alliance for Living Evidence on aNxiety, depressiOn and pSychosis
Introducing the Fellows:
Dr. Elugbadebo Olufisayo, MBBS, MSc, FWACP is an early career clinical and academic psychiatrist. She is a consultant psychiatrist at the University College Hospital, a lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and the Vice President of the Brain Health Initiative Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting brain health at different stages of life through community engagement, public awareness and advocacy in Nigeria. Her research interests include mental health among vulnerable populations, mental health systems/services, and global mental health. She is currently a fellow on the GALENOS project (work package 3) under the supervision of Prof Soraya Seedat. Her long-term career goal is to become a leading clinician and an independent researcher in the field of mental health for older people in Africa, leading future research efforts to implement culturally appropriate innovations to address the mental knowledge and healthcare gap in LMIC.
Dr. Ouma Simple, MBChB, MPH is a Ugandan Public Health physician and mid-career researcher with extensive clinical, public health, and research experience in infectious diseases, HIV, non-communicable diseases (NCD), and mental health. He holds MBChB and MPH degrees from Gulu University and Makerere University respectively. Currently, he is pursuing an MSc. in Statistics for Clinical Trials at University College London. He completed post-doctoral training in Global Health with the Northern Pacific Global Health Fellowship Program in 2022. Additionally, he holds a post-doctoral position at the Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University working on living systematic reviews on anxiety, depression, and psychosis under the GALENOS) project (https://galenos.org.uk/). He is also the Research Manager at TASO, providing leadership and technical guidance to different research projects and programs at TASO. Previously, he coordinated INTE AFRICA- a multi-institutional and multinational research in Uganda and Tanzania. His research interests are in Public and Global Health, Epidemiology, Clinical Trials, and Implementation Science. Currently, my research is focused on understanding the intersections of infectious diseases, NCDs, and mental health. Furthermore, he is an editor with PloS One and a peer reviewer with international journals like PLoS One, AIDS and behaviour, and BJPysch Open.
Ms. Simonne Wright, MA is a research psychologist and part of the South African Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research Programme of Excellence (SA PTSD) at the Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University. She is also a dual university PhD Candidate at Stellenbosch University and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her dissertation is a meta individual participant data (IPD) analysis focusing on moderators and predictors of psychotherapy treatment effects for posttraumatic stress disorder. She obtained her Master’s degree in Research Psychology at Stellenbosch University focusing on The relationship between pet attachment, perceived stress and life satisfaction: An online survey. Ms Wright enjoys learning new things and facing a challenge. Some of her strengths include dedication to her work, curiosity, and being internally motivated. She has experience in working with diverse teams.