I am a medical doctor with training in psychiatry, general medicine, gastroenterology, and tropical medicine. I obtained my Master’s degree in Tropical Medicine from the University of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK (2003) and my PhD in International Health (Global Disease Epidemiology and Control) from Johns Hopkins University, USA (2008). My interest in multi-country research stems from my international background that has included living in the USA, Niger, Zimbabwe, Peru, Ecuador, and several countries in Europe, as well as visiting nearly 130 countries worldwide. I have authored or co-authored more than 600 peer-reviewed articles indexed in PubMed, and have also been the first author of papers in high impact factor journals such as the Lancet. I had been selected highly cited researcher 2022.

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). More recently, I have been involved in research on the physical and mental health impacts of COVID infection or the COVID pandemic.