Kamaldeep Bhui

I undertake eco-social, syndemic, and health and social systems research in order to:

• improve policy and practice
• reduce health inequalities and adverse health outcomes such as persistent mental illness, suicide, and premature mortality due to chronic long term conditions
• advance research methods and interdisciplinary dialogue 

This means connecting research related to the Environment - Society- Culture - Mind - Brain - Body.

Research includes:

• Reducing ethnic inequalities in the experiences and outcomes of severe mental illnesses, including understanding the role of societal, institutional and interpersonal discrimination and racism as drivers of poor health, and their relevance for effective therapeutics.
• Adolescent Mental Health: Developing life skills and problem solving interventions for young people in India and Kenya and investigating cultural and social aspects of risk and resiliency in population prevention.
• Understanding the role of adversity, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and inflammation in the development of mental illnesses (such as depression) and multiple long term conditions.
• Criminal Justice and Mental Health Systems: preventing violence and extremism, and investigating public health models of prevention and policy.
• Digital interventions for prevention and care 

Current research:

1) Studies of inflammation and depression in chronic disease, including multi-morbidity

2) Preventing and responding to ACEs by interdisciplinary research on social, cultural and arts based methods and interventions

3) Understanding the drivers of ethnic inequalities in experiences and outcomes of severe mental illness, personality function, coercive care including use of the Mental Health Act, and multi-morbidity

4) Experience based co-design methods incorporating creative arts methodologies to inform the development of complex care and preventive interventions.

5) Digital health interventions: co-design, development, and testing of psychotherapy informed interventions.

Research legacies and impact: 

An international Centre of Excellence on cultural psychiatry practice, research and teaching (at Centre for Psychiatry, Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry) included a clinical cultural consultation service working with commissioners, clinicians, and third sector partners to ensure prevention & effective recovery (see Bhui et al. A cultural consultation service in East London: experiences and outcomes from implementation. doi: 10.3109/09540261.2014.992303).

The Synergi Collaborative Centre (https://synergicollaborativecentre.co.uk/) a national partnership to understand and tackle ethnic inequalities in severe mental illness working with the University of Manchester and Word of Colour. This collaborative brought together patient, public and professional narratives to promote a place based collaborative leadership and embedded systems change to tackle structural disadvantage. The centre sought to transform Health Systems and inequalities (e.g. use of the Mental Health Act). The collaborative has won a national Guardian New Radicals Award, QMUL community engagement awards, and QMUL Innovations Award.