Maya Semrau

Maya joined the Global Health and Infection Department at BSMS in November 2017 and works as a senior research fellow in implementation research in the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

She has been working within global mental health since 2008, when she started her PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London (in collaboration with the World Health Organization), developing a scale – the HESPER Scale – to assess the perceived needs of populations affected by humanitarian emergencies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Since then, she has worked within the ‘Improving access to integrated Morbidity management and disability PREvention Services through Stigma reduction for people with lower limb lymphoedema in Ethiopia’ (IMPRESS) project at BSMS; the INDIGO Partnership and Network on a study to reduce mental-health-related stigma and discrimination through a local public knowledge and awareness-raising campaign in five LMICs in Africa and Asia; as scientific coordinator on the Emerald programme, which aimed to strengthen mental health systems in six LMICs in Africa and Asia; on a project by the ‘International Dementia Alliance’ (IDEAL) group, developing an international staging schedule for dementia; and as part of the core evidence review group for WHO guidelines on the management of physical health conditions in adults with severe mental disorder. She also currently convenes the Mental Wellbeing and Stigma Working Group of the Disease Management, Disability and Inclusion (DMDI) of the NTD NGO Network (NNN).

Maya has an MSc in Mental Health Service Research (IoPPN), an MSc in Experimental Psychology (University of Sussex), and a BSc Honours in Human Sciences (University of Sussex).