Mina Fazel

My interest focuses on improving access to effective mental health interventions for children and adolescents, with a particular emphasis on school-based approaches. Since 2019, my team has led the OxWell Student Survey, a pivotal initiative exploring student needs and their preferred mental health supports. The next survey takes place from February to March 2025. OxWell data from over 40,000 students across 180 schools in 2023 are offering critical insights into a broad range of factors important for mental health. Our findings have been used by researchers, schools and local authority partners in health and education. Visit the survey website for more information on findings, resources including links to our National Webinar, podcast series and a short film for participating students. Do also look at our new maps of mental health accessibility and acceptability to help improve provision in one of our latest OxWell publications Networks of Care for the Modern Adolescent.

The team in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry focuses on advancing understanding and treatment of child and adolescent mental health through diverse and complementary research areas. This includes interventions to address intergenerational transmission of adversity and effective communication with children. As part of Team Intervene, I collaborate with an incredible group of researchers on a number of  projects on mental health interventions and implementation. We welcome individuals interested in this area to submit funding applications to come and work with us. The ATTUNE project is exploring the impact of multiple adversities with partners in the visual and performing arts as well as with neurodivergent communities. Previous projects include the MindKind Study on adolescent data governance preferences; the EcoWeb trial exploring the implementation of digital interventions and the Excluded Lives project, understanding the dynamics of school exclusion, fully informed by the experiences of young people.

The Oxford and Thames Valley ARC has supported the majority of my recent work. I am particularly interested in barriers young people face in accessing mental health services and have collaborated with the Ethox Centre to explore ethical challenges raised by school mental health provision. I welcome researchers, across disciplines, who are keen to understand questions of consent, autonomy and privacy for adolescents to join me.

My longstanding interest in refugee mental health has focused on the epidemiology of and the risk and protective factors for mental health difficulties in refugee children, especially in the post-migration environment. This includes examining psychological impacts of immigration detention and the efficacy of Narrative Exposure Therapy for PTSD. I support the amazing Oxford Medical Students in their work with the Oxford Refugee Health Initiative. 

In my clinical role, I serve as a Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry within the Department of Children's Psychological Medicine at Oxford Children's Hospital (Oxford University Hospitals NHSFT), collaborating with a highly skilled team to support young patients. 

Links to my publications can be found here or via ResearchGate. We've made a 6-part Podcast Series on Mental Health Interventions for Refugee Children -do listen! Our Lancet Psychiatry series on school mental health interventions is available online. Our poster for schools on 'COPING WITH YOUR LOW MOOD' is free to download. In my previous NIHR fellowship I developed a mental health toolbox for front-line workers in schools (online).