Melanie Abas

Melanie Amna Abas is Professor of Global Mental Health at King’s College London, consultant psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, and Co-Chair of the King’s College London African Regional Network. Melanie is a psychiatrist and epidemiologist. She co-founded the world’s first Masters in Global Mental Health at King’s College London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is Co-Director of Youth in Mind – a UK National Institute for Health Global Health Research Group for research on interventions for depression and anxiety in youth in African countries. She is Chief Investigator for an R01 Clinical Trial called TENDAI, to treat depression and improve viral suppression in people living with HIV in Zimbabwe.

Melanie’s work emphasizes global engagement and capacity building, including building the capacity and careers of early and mid-career researchers to produce the next generation of mental health leaders. Melanie’s research partners include governments and non-governmental agencies, musicians, and filmmakers as well as biomedical, behavioral, and social scientists.