Early bird registration extended to 18th November, 2024
Early bird registration extended to 18th November, 2024
Scientific Committee
Dr Rita Castro
Dr. Rita Amiel Castro is a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of Zurich. Dr. Amiel Castro's research focuses on maternal perinatal mental health and its associations with infant development. Her research integrates psychological and biological data and has examined the interface between maternal psychopathology in pregnancy and postpartum and psychosocial processes with a focus on breastfeeding and on offspring developmental and health outcomes. Her studies also aim to understand the complex psychobiological alterations occurring during the perinatal period to inform on mediating mechanisms and pathways associated to maternal and child health. Dr. Amiel Castro's research occurs in the context of large prospective longitudinal cohorts as well as observational studies involving mothers and babies.
Dr. Neerja Chowdhary
Dr. Neerja Chowdhary is a technical officer in the Department of Mental Health, Brain Health and Substance Use in WHO headquarters. A psychiatrist by training, she works in the Brain Health team. Her role includes the development of normative tools and guidance to support integration of mental, neurological and substance use conditions for example resources linked to WHO’s mhGAP programme aimed at building the capacity of non-specialist health workers to provide quality mental health care.
Neerja is the focal point for perinatal mental health and works closely with colleagues across WHO departments at HQ, regional and country offices to support context-specific implementation of WHO guide for integration of perinatal mental health in maternal and child health services.
Professor Vivette Glover
Professor Vivette Glover is Visiting Professor of Perinatal Psychobiology at Imperial College London. Her research has shown the effects of the emotional state of the mother during pregnancy, on the developing fetus and longer term on the child, especially on neurodevelopment. Her group have also studied the biological mechanisms that may underlie such fetal programming. More recently she has been involved in music interventions to reduce antenatal anxiety and depression, including in Africa. She has published over 450 papers. She is Treasurer of the Marcé Society, an advisor for the Early Intervention Foundation and a member of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance and the Global Alliance for Maternal Mental Health. She has been awarded the International Marcé Society medal, the John Cox medal, and the PIPUK award for Research into Pregnancy and Infant Mental Health. Her work is contributing to changes in government policy in the UK and elsewhere.
Dr. Alain Gregoire
Dr. Alain Gregoire is a Perinatal Psychiatrist, who has set up and led multiple specialist perinatal mental health services, and won UK Hospital Doctor of the year and RCPsych Team of the Year awards. He was a member of the NICE Guideline Development Group for Antenatal and Postnatal Mental Health, and has contributed extensively to the development of policy, strategy, guidance and clinical services in the area of parental and infant mental health in the UK and abroad. He was the founder and is President of the UK Maternal Mental Health Alliance, a coalition of over 120 national organisations committed to improving maternal mental health care and outcomes for mothers and their infants, and which has successfully campaigned for over £1bn new government funding for perinatal mental health services across the UK. He works as an advisor to the Princess of Wales, who recently became MMHA patron. He founded the Global Alliance for Maternal Mental Health, which has similar aims worldwide, with over 25 international member organisations, and has informed the development of successful alliances in many other countries and world regions.
Professor Clara Haruzivishe
Professor Clara Haruzivishe is the Associate Professor of Nursing and Midwifery at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe. Her research focus is in maternal and child health and education. She has a broad background in midwifery and education and is an expert in the field of HIV training for health professionals. She was the principal investigator in a number of different studies including factors associated with maternal morbidity and mortality in Mashonaland East, determinants of periodontal disease in pregnancy, collaborative HIV partnerships, several COVID 19 studies, and, a UNICEF funded study on factors affecting unaccompanied children. Prof. Haruzivishe is currently the Chair of the Interprofessional Education Collaboration Practice Committee.
Ms. Tafadzwa Meki
Ms.Tafadzwa Meki is a registered counselling psychologist specializing in perinatal mental health. With a passion for addressing Afrocentric mental health issues, she is the founder of S.A.L.T Africa, a prominent mental health organization that focuses on providing Afrocentric solutions. Tafadzwa's impactful work includes spearheading a program for adolescent girls and boys affected by post-traumatic stress following the devastation of Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. Additionally, S.A.L.T Africa actively engages in prison rehabilitation through mental health circles, aiming to address recidivism and promote behavioural change. As a driving force for perinatal mental health inclusion, Tafadzwa has been instrumental in implementing a pilot project that offers free maternal mental health services within health facilities and communities. This initiative provides support to women in antenatal classes, early labor wards, Kangaroo Units, Neonatal Units, and those with adverse birth outcomes. Tafadzwa is currently working on constructing a rural maternal mental health center. Additionally, she runs the "Happy Baby - Happy Momma" program, which collects essential items for birthing mothers and babies in communities and prisons. She is also the host of the popular television show "Mental Health Watch" on Heart and Soul TV, airing every Tuesday. Furthermore, Tafadzwa holds the esteemed position of President-Elect in her Rotary club, showcasing her leadership and dedication to service.
Ms. Angelica Mkorongo
Ms. Angelica Mkorongo is a biologist and mental health advocate with a rich background in the field. She established the Zimbabwe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Trust and played a pivotal role in founding the National Association of Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities in Zimbabwe. Her involvement extends to various international mental health organizations. Angelica’s contributions are diverse, including her active role in workshops, mental health consultations, and discussions with individuals with disabilities. She serves on the advisory boards of global mental health entities and has been instrumental in shaping conversations around policy enhancement, advocacy, human rights, and the ramifications of COVID-19 on mental
health. Her international presence was felt in the World Health Organization's Quality Rights Programs, and her input into the WHO Guideline on Human Rights, Mental Health, and Legislation has been significant as well as her contribution to the Guidelines by CBM Global. Recently appointed to the African Mental Health Leadership Programme, Angelica’s advocacy efforts have been recognized with awards. Her mission is to amplify the voices of those with lived experiences worldwide, promoting their
empowerment and recognizing their perspectives as integral to the community.
Ms. Shannon McNab
Shanon McNab is a Principal Technical Advisor with MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership program where she co-leads the Perinatal Mental Health portfolio and is the Technical Lead on the Respectful Maternal and Newborn Care portfolio. Shanon led MOMENTUM’s initial landscape analysis on perinatal mental health – ‘The Silent Burden: Understanding Perinatal Mental Disorders in Low-and Middle-Income Countries’ in 2022 and has been supporting MOMENTUMs work in PMH globally for last three years. Prior to joining MOMENTUM Shanon was the Associate Director for the Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) program at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, a position she held for 10 years. Shanon’s research and implementation support has included defining and measuring respectful maternity care in the U.S. and overseas, perinatal mental health, maternal and newborn health in urban settings, and human resources for health. Prior to joining AMDD, Shanon worked on strengthening family planning monitoring and evaluation systems in crisis settings; managing programs providing access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment for at-risk populations; and staffing international disaster response programs. Shanon has worked as a public health researcher and implementer for over 20 years with universities, UN agencies, USAID, local and international NGOs and city departments of health. Shanon holds a dual master’s degree in International Affairs and in Public Health from Columbia University and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Allisyn Moran
Dr. Allisyn Moran leads the maternal health team in the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organization (WHO). She has over twenty-five years of experience in research, programmatic implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of maternal, newborn, and child health programmes and initiatives. Prior to joining WHO in 2017, she worked with the United States Agency for International Development Bureau for Global Health in Washington and in Nigeria. She has also worked with other organizations such as Save the Children, JHPIEGO, and ICDDR,B and as faculty at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Currently, she holds an honorary appointment at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Dr. Nicole Votruba
Dr. Nicole Votruba is a senior research fellow in implementation science at the Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford. She is PI and leading the design and implementation of the PRAMH study, a community-based perinatal mental health intervention, which is implemented in rural India in collaboration with the George Institute India. She is leading the process evaluation of the SMARThealth Pregnancy programme, and is co-lead of the multi-country Indigo Local study, developing a community anti-stigma campaign. Nicole is a psychologist, political scientist, junior research fellow at Wolfson College and honorary research fellow at the George Institute for Global Health (UK). She is Executive secretary of Human Rights in Mental Health-FGIP. She completed her PhD at the IoPPN, King’s College London, where she developed a framework for mental health science-policy priority setting in low- and middle-income countries (EVITA 2.0). She has experience in research and policy, working on a number of global mental health research studies, as policy officer of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health, and as coordinator of the FundaMentalSDG initiative for mental health in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Her interests are improving global health, women’s mental health, interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination, science-policy relations, and human rights for people with mental health conditions.
International Conference on Maternal Mental Health in Africa
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