Vikram Patel, a Mumbai-born psychiatrist and researcher, has been named the new chair of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. Currently, Patel is the Pershing Square Professor of Global Health in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and will begin his new position on 1 September, 2023.

Patel will be succeeding Paul Farmer, who headed the department until his death in February 2022. Farmer had recruited Patel in 2017, and since then has “been a vital source of intellectual energy and team building,” says Anne Becker dean for clinical and academic affairs and the Maude and Lillian Presley Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at HMS.

“I am motivated by the potential of this role at this critical juncture in the long and storied history of a department committed to the goal of health equity in this country and globally,” Patel said in a press release.

Patel is well-known for his initiatives on mental health. Apart from heading Harvard’s Global Mental Health initiative, he also steers the Mental Health For All Lab, which aims to reduce the burden of mental health problems across the world. In 2020, he launched a not-for-profit HMS initiative named EMPOWER to promote training and digital tools for frontline workers to deliver mental health interventions in communities and improve knowledge. 

Patel is also the Co-Founder and former Director of the Center for Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He is also the co-founder of the Indian NGO Sangath and the Mental Health Innovations Network and serves on various committees of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Patel, whose Ph.D. thesis is on mental disorders in Harare, focuses on the usage of community resources to reduce the burden of mental disorders. 

“Vikram is both a worthy successor and uniquely prepared to carry the torch,” said George Q. Daley, dean of HMS, in a letter announcing Patel’s appointment.

Vikram’s image courtesy Harvard.