London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

TIME magazine has named Vikram Patel, psychiatrist and Professor of International Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, among the 2015 TIME 100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The list, now in its twelfth year, recognises the activism, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals. TIME Editor Nancy Gibbs said: “The TIME 100 is a list of the world's most influential men and women, not its most powerful, though those are not mutually exclusive terms… While power is certain, influence is subtle…. As much as this exercise chronicles the achievements of the past year, we also focus on figures whose influence is likely to grow, so we can look around the corner to see what is coming."

Prof Patel was the founding and Joint Director of the Centre for Global Mental Health, a partnership between the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Kings Health Partners. He is a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director of the Centre for the Control of Chronic Conditions at the Public Health Foundation of India. He is also co-founder of Sangath, a mental health research NGO based in Goa.

His research focuses on how to bring better mental health care to low-resource communities, where around 90% of people affected by mental illness go untreated because psychiatrists are in such short supply. His studies have looked at the burden of mental disorders and suicide in young people; the association of poverty and gender based violence with depression and suicide; adolescent health, HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health. He also carries out research on chronic diseases which seeks to integrate mental health care with that for other chronic diseases, and on using mhealth innovations in improving access to and quality of care.

The TIME 100 list describes Prof Patel as a ‘well-being warrior’ and includes a tribute from Dr Barbara Van Dahlen, a psychologist and the founder of Give an Hour, a network of volunteer mental-health professionals, as well as the Campaign to Change Direction.  

She writes: “It is hard to imagine a more difficult challenge than addressing the unmet needs of those from resource-poor countries who live with and suffer from mental-health disorders. And yet Vikram Patel has spent his career doing just that… He is a gifted psychiatrist, a dedicated researcher, a successful author of books and academic papers, and he is an effective communicator. In fact, he seems to have an unending supply of these critical skills. And as a co-founder of the NGO Sangath and the Centre for Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, he helps spread the simple yet profound idea of mental health for all. He provides hope that mental illness and trauma make us neither weak nor unworthy of love and respect.”

Commenting on the announcement, Prof Patel said: “Being named on this list is a recognition for the tireless efforts of so many people around the world to use science and advocacy to enhance the quality of life of people affected by mental health problems, easily the most neglected of all global health issues, in the poorest communities of the world”.

The full list and related tributes can be viewed online and appears in the April 27 issue of TIME (available on Friday 17 April).

Video: Vikram Patel TED talk - Mental Health for all by involving all

Podcast

You can hear more about Vikram Patel’s career in this 2014 episode of BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific.

Related study

• MSc Global Mental Health
• The Janssen Pharmaceutica Scholarships for Global Mental Health - Deadline 30 April

Image: Vikram Patel / WHO