Sharli Anne Paphitis

Dr. Sharli Anne Paphitis is a Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IOPPN), specializing in qualitative research and global mental health. She holds a PhD in Philosophy from Rhodes University and has over a decade of experience in interdisciplinary research funded by UKRI, AHRC, MRC, and NIHR. Her work focuses on violence, abuse, and mental health equity, with significant contributions to trauma recovery interventions for survivors of gender-based violence and trafficking. She co-directs the Violence Abuse and Mental Health Network and leads the Modern Slavery Core Outcome Set project.

Education: PhD in Philosophy (Rhodes University).

Research Interests: Epistemic justice, participatory methodologies, domestic violence, human trafficking, and forced displacement. She emphasizes co-production with NGOs and survivor communities to ensure practical, transformative outcomes.

Key Projects: South African arm of the SHAER project, Nigeria’s ‘Counselling on Wheels’ initiative, and NIHR Global Health Research Group collaborations in Southeast Asia and Nigeria. Her work bridges global health ethics, social psychology, and policy advocacy.

• Labs/Teams: Co-leader of the Qualitative Research Group at IOPPN.
• Teaching: Designing modules on global health ethics and qualitative methods at King’s College and St George’s University.