Ai Koyanagi

Ai Koyanagi

Fundació per la Recerca i la Docència Sant Joan de Déu

Life & Medical Sciences

I am a medical doctor and an epidemiologist. I obtained my PhD (International Health) at Johns Hopkins Univeristy, Baltimore, USA. My main research interest concerns health determinants and how they vary by geography or country income level. In particular, mental disorders and their comorbidity with physical disorders are her primary interest. I conduct multi-country epidemiological studies examining the modifiable risk factors for a wide range of mental and physical disorders with high burden at the population level.


Research interests

I am interested in learning about health determinants and how they vary by geography. In particular, mental disorders and their comorbidity with physical disorders are my primary interest given my clinical experience as a physician and psychiatrist. Most of my research has focused on multi-country epidemiological studies examining the modifiable risk factors of a range of mental and physical disorders with high burden at the population level using large nationally representative datasets predominantly from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Selected publications

– Ashdown-Franks G, Vancampfort D, Firth J, Smith L, Sabiston CM, Stubbs B & Koyanagi A 2019, ‘Association of leisure-time sedentary behavior with fast food and carbonated soft drink consumption among 133,555 adolescents aged 12-15years in 44 low- and middle-income countries’, International Journal Of Behavioral Nutrition And Physical Activity, 16, 35.

– Solmi M, Firth J, Miola A, Fornaro M, Frison E, Fusar-Poli P, Dragioti E, Shin JI, Veronese N, Stubbs B, Koyanagi A, Kisley S & Correll CU 2019,  ‘Disparities in cancer screening in people with mental illness across the world: prevalence and comparative meta-analysis versus the general population including 4,717,839 people’. Lancet Psychiatry, 7, 1, 52 – 63.

– Koyanagi A, Veronese N, Vancampfort D, Stickley A, Jackson SE, Oh H, Shin JI, Haro JM, Stubbs B, Smith L 2019, ‘Association of bullying victimization with overweight and obesity among adolescents aged 12-15 years from 41 low- and middle-income countries’ Pediatric Obesity, UNSP e12571.

– Firth J, Siddiqi N, Koyanagi A, Siskind D, Rosenbaum S, Galletly C, Allan S, Caneo C, Carney R, Carvalho AF, Chatterton ML, Correll CU, Curtis J, Gaughran F, Heald A, Hoare E, Jackson SE, Kisely S, Lovell K, Maj M, McGorry PD, Mihalopoulos C, Myles H, O’Donoghue B, Pillinger T, Sarris J, Schuch FB, Shiers D, Smith L, Solmi M, Suetani S, Taylor J, Teasdale SB, Thornicroft G, Torous J, Usherwood T, Vancampfort D, Veronese N, Ward PB, Yung AR, Killackey E, Stubbs B 2019 ‘The Lancet Psychiatry Commission: a blueprint for protecting physical health in people with mental illness’. Lancet Psychiatry, 6, 8, 675 – 712.