Charlotte Hanlon

Professor Charlotte Hanlon serves as Co-Director of the Centre for Global Mental Health and co-director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Research and Training at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. Based in Ethiopia, she has maintained a continuous research and implementation presence in the country since her PhD work from 2004-2006 on perinatal mental health in rural settings, returning permanently in 2009.

Her research expertise spans global mental health implementation science, with particular focus on developing, testing and implementing interventions for people with mental health conditions in low- and middle-income countries. Professor Hanlon has significant experience with psychological interventions, social/psychosocial approaches, service models, and system strengthening, with special attention to severe mental health conditions including psychoses and developmental disabilities. Her work consistently incorporates capacity strengthening as an integral component. She coordinates the PhD program for Mental Health Epidemiology at Addis Ababa University and serves on Ethiopia's technical working group for mental health scale-up.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on context-specific implementation research, particularly in Ethiopia, with growing attention to developmental disabilities, caregiver support, and inclusive education. Her work bridges clinical interventions with health systems strengthening, demonstrating how context shapes effective mental health service delivery in resource-limited settings. The publications show increasing collaboration with African institutions and a focus on sustainable, locally adapted solutions.

• Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health
• Co-lead (with Professor Ashok Malla) of the interventions, services and systems section of the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Psychoses in Global Context

Professor Hanlon leads multiple major research initiatives including HOPE (NIHR global health research group on homelessness and severe mental illness), SCOPE (Wellcome Trust-funded study of psychosis context in Ethiopia), PROMISE (improving detection and care for psychosis in Malawi), PRIZE (peer support intervention for psychosis in South Africa), and SPARK (WHO caregiver skills training for developmental disabilities). Her research approach emphasizes participatory methods, cultural adaptation, and building local research capacity across multiple African countries.

She works closely with the Centre for Global Mental Health, which aims to address inequities by closing the care gap and reducing human rights abuses experienced by people living with mental, neurological and substance use conditions in low-resource settings. Her projects often involve collaboration between King's College London, Addis Ababa University, and other African institutions to develop sustainable mental health solutions.