Two Yale Department of Psychiatry residents and two Yale School of Medicine students have been awarded 2017-18 Scholar Awards by the Yale Global Mental Health Program (YGMHP).
The YGMHP Scientific Committee honored psychiatry residents Frances Adachi, MD, MPH, and Flavia DeSouza, MD, MHS, with grant awards, presented to young investigators committed to advancing mental health locally and globally.
Medical students Alexandra Junn (YSM 1) and Melinda Wang (YSM 3) were also honored.
Adachi, a second-year resident, is creating a mental health training program for community health workers and nurses in primary care in Imo State, Nigeria, using a modified mhGAP curriculum. Her research mentors are Theddeus Iheanacho, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale; Dr. Emeka Nwefoh at CBM International in Abuja, Nigeria; and Dr. Chinyere Aguocha at Imo State University, Nigeria.
The title of DeSouza’s project is, “Duration of Untreated Psychosis and Pathways to Care in Jamaica.” The second-year resident is being mentored at Yale by Vinod Srihari, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Specialized Treatment for Early Psychosis program; and Deepak D’Souza, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Schizophrenia Neuropharmacology Research Group at Yale. Her mentor in Jamaica is Dr. Winston De la Haye, Chief Medical Officer for the Ministry of Health and a psychiatrist and lecturer at the University of the West Indies.
Junn will use cinematography to more deeply understand and characterize the barriers of mental health treatment for the homeless population New Haven. The title of Wang’s work is, “The Dharma Project: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Improving Mental Health Among Youth at Risk.” The project will assess the impact of an adapted cognitive behavioral approach on symptoms of anxiety and depression among unaccompanied refugee minors in Malaysia.
The grant awards were made possible through the generous support of Yale New Haven Hospital.
YGMHP is directed by Ayana Jordan, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale, and co-directed by Michelle Silva, PsyD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Aniyizhai Annamalai, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry.
YGMHP aims to increase awareness of global mental health issues and social disparities while developing tools to address associated challenges both in the United States and abroad.