Catalyze, inspire, innovate for mental health
April 1st 2019
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In this issue:
  • Events
  • GMH@Harvard 2nd Annual Open Day
  • Events in the Community
  • Save the Date
  • Opportunities
Events
Celebrating the diversity of global mental health activities in our community
Saturday April 13th 2019
8:30am-4:00pm
Sever Hall 113 | Harvard University
The event will feature keynote speaker: Patrick J. Kennedy, former Congressman (D-RI); Lead author of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008; founder of The Kennedy Forum and DontDenyMe.org; co-founder of One Mind.
Followed by presentations and a poster session from faculty, staff, students, and others from our community who are working in the field of global mental health.
Global Mental Health Events in the Community
Wednesday April 3rd 11:30am - 12:45pm EST
 Boston College, McGuinn Hall, Room 106c 
245 Beacon St, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467
Ryan K. McBain is a health policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and Director of Economic Evaluation at Partners In Health. He has particular interest in the design and evaluation of health policies and programs meant to reach vulnerable populations—including those coping with mental health conditions, HIV/AIDS, homelessness, and poverty. To achieve this, Dr. McBain has utilized a wide range of methodologies, including econometric approaches to quasi-experimental analysis, cost-effectiveness, and decision analysis using Markovian and Monte Carlo methods, as well as person-centered and qualitative research methods. Dr. McBain's domestic work has focused on evaluating policies and programs intended to expand access and quality of care to individuals with opioid dependence in rural Appalachia, HIV+ individuals coping with homelessness and housing insecurity, and veterans who are dealing with PTSD. Internationally, Dr. McBain has worked at the World Bank, World Health Organization, and Harvard University. In his current role with Partners In Health, his focus is on evaluating mental health, HIV, and primary care service delivery systems, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti.

April 5-6, 2019
Kresge G2, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
677 Huntington Ave. Boston MA
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Harvard Center on the Developing Child will be co-hosting a conference on Implementation Research and Practice for Early Childhood Development. This conference will bring together global experts, faculty, student, and others working in the field of early child development to discuss current evidence and best practices for effective interventions, pathways to scale, measurement of child development, and priorities in future implementation research, with a particular focus in low- and middle-income countries.

GMH@Harvard Guest Seminar Series
Friday April 12th 1:00-2:00pm
Ballard Room, Countway Library, 10 Shattuck St. Boston, MA 02115
Presenter: Supriya Bhavnani, Public Health Foundation of India / Sangath
Most children in low and middle income countries do not have access to regular developmental assessments due to the lack of validated scalable tools that can be administered by non-specialist workers. This results in a large 'detection gap' where most children in need of interventions do not get identified in a timely manner. The absence of such tools also limits our ability to monitor and evaluate the impact of interventions aimed at improving developmental outcomes. Our interdisciplinary team has devised novel solutions to this problem. Our tools, DEEP (Developmental Assessment on an E-Platform) and START (Screening Tools for Autism Risk Using Technology), harness the potential of mHealth technology for assessment of neurodevelopment in preschool children. Our pilot studies assess a) the acceptability of these tools to children and families, b) feasibility of their delivery by non-specialist workers in childrens' homes and c) their validity against gold standard child assessments. RSVP HERE.

GMH@Harvard Guest Seminar Series
Monday April 15th 5:30 - 7:00pm
Kresge G2, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
677 Huntington Ave. Boston MA
Presente r: Michèle Lamont, Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies; Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies; Director, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
With growing inequality, the American Dream is becoming less effective as a collective myth. With its focus on material success, competition and self-reliance, the intensified diffusion of neoliberal scripts of the self is leading the upper-middle class toward a mental health crisis while the working class and low-income groups do not have the resources needed to live the dream. This seminar discusses a possible way forward through broadening cultural membership by promoting new narratives of hope centered on a plurality of criteria of worth, ‘ordinary universalism’ and destigmatizing stigmatized groups. RSVP HERE.

HMS Department of Global Health and Social Medicine Department Seminar
Wednesday April 24th 12:00-1:30pm
1st Floor Conference Room - 641 Huntingon Ave. Boston MA 02115
Presenter: Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good , PhD, Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine

Center on the Developing Child - Harvard University
June 4th 2019, 9:00am - 5:00pm Cambridge, MA
Decades of research have shown it is possible to improve outcomes for children and families facing adversity. However, on average, the impacts of early childhood programs are modest, and they have not improved over time. So, how can we build better programs that achieve greater outcomes for more young children and families? Do you want to build stronger programs & achieve better outcomes? Attend our Science-Based Innovation Training! We go beyond asking whether a program works, & ask: What about the program works? How does it make a difference? Who benefits most? Join us for this one-day training to help programs increase impact for children and families.

October 25-28, 2019
Description from the President of the World Association of Social Psychiatry: The theme of the Congress, “Social determinants of mental health and access to care” is contemporary and relevant. It reflects our concern for mental health in this age of globalization, commercialization and the merging of boundaries between nations. Despite rapid advances in all fields, enough attention has not been devoted to the social determinants of mental health. And access to care remains severely limited in most parts of the world including high income countries. Our world is changing as never before, which has profound implications for mental health. We are sure, the deliberations of the Congress will give us newer insights into the emerging dynamics in all these areas. We will have four days of rich scientific programme with invited lectures, symposia, workshops, free papers and posters. There will be also be cultural events and get togethers which will be very entertaining to you and families.
For more information and to submit an abstract to present contact: Alina Puscas.
Save the Date
More information to come for the following GMH related events in the community:
Department Seminar
Wednesday April 10th 12:00-1:30pm
Presenter: Melino Ndayizigiye, MD, MMsC-GHD , Partners In Health in Lesotho 
Opportunities
December 9th - December 20th 2019
Goa, India
Register by April 31st for early bird rates! This course is an excellent opportunity to enhance your understanding and skills in the field of global mental health. The course takes place annually at Sangath, Goa, India, and it welcomes participants from across the world to share their experiences and learn collaboratively. Email LMH@Sangath.in for more information.

Dr. Elise Robinson, assistant professor of Genetic Epidemiology at the Chan School of Public Health, is seeking bright, motivated and committed applicants for an administrative support position. Ideal candidates are those who both have experience and thrive in an administrative support role. This position will provide critical support to Dr. Robinson and her research teams focused on the genetics of autism. Interested applications should send an email to Alice Galvin and apply via the Harvard system.
Do you have something to share with the Global Mental Health community?
Email Juliana Lynn Restivo at GMH_Admin@hms.harvard.edu and we will include it in our next
Global Mental Health @ Harvard Newsletter!
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