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Charlotte Hanlon

Professor Charlotte Hanlon

Professor of Global Mental Health

  • Epidemiologist

Research interests

  • Psychiatry

Biography

Professor Charlotte Hanlon is Co-Director of the Centre for Global Mental Health at King’s College London, together with Professor Crick Lund. She also co-directs the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Research and Training at the IoPPN with Dr Tatiana Salisbury.

Professor Hanlon lives and works in Ethiopia. She first went to Ethiopia from 2004-2006 to carry out her PhD work on the public health impact of perinatal mental health in a rural Ethiopian setting. She returned to Ethiopia in 2009 and has been involved in clinical work, training mental health professionals, service development and policy, alongside her research work.

The main focus of Professor Hanlon’s research is on developing, testing and implementing interventions that seek to improve the lives of people with mental health conditions in low- and middle-income countries. This includes psychological interventions, broader social/psychosocial interventions, interventions to increase involvement of people with lived experience, service models and system strengthening approaches. She has a particular interest in working with people affected by severe mental health conditions, including psychoses and developmental disabilities. Capacity strengthening is an integral part of all her projects. She co-ordinates the PhD programme for Mental Health Epidemiology at Addis Ababa University.

Professor Hanlon's current projects include HOPE, an NIHR global health research group on homelessness and severe mental illness (co-PI with Professor Atalay Alem); SCOPE, a Wellcome Trust-funded study of the context of psychosis in Ethiopia to inform outcomes (PI), PROMISE, a Wellcome Trust-funded study on improving detection and care for people with psychosis in Malawi (co-I, with PI Professor Stephen Lawrie); and PRIZE, an MRC-funded project to pilot a peer support intervention for people with psychosis in South Africa (co-I, with co-PIs Dr Laura Asher and Dr Carrie Brook-Sumner). She is also country PI on SPARK, an NIHR funded cluster randomised controlled trial of WHO’s caregiver skills training for children with developmental disabilities in Ethiopia and Kenya (PIs Dr Rosa Hoekstra, Professor Amina Abubaker).

Professor Hanlon was a commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental health. She is co-lead (with Professor Ashok Malla) of the interventions, services and systems section of the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Psychoses in Global Context.

Research Interests

  • Health systems and implementation research in LMICs 
  • Trials of mental health care interventions and service models in LMICs 
  • Public mental health  
  • Women’s mental health 
  • Involvement of people with lived experience in system strengthening 
  • Cultural validation of measures 

Teaching

  • Global Mental Health MSc

Expertise and Public Engagement

Professor Hanlon is a member of the technical working group to oversee scale-up of mental health care in Ethiopia. 

    Research

    iStock-506102084
    Centre for Global Mental Health (CGMH)

    The Centre for Global Mental Health (CGMH) aims to address inequities by closing the care gap, and to reduce human rights abuses experienced by people living with mental, neurological and substance use conditions, particularly in low resource settings with a view to contributing to a world where all people living with mental, neurological and substance use disorders can live a life of meaning and dignity.

    who-collaborating-centre-for-research-and-training-in-mental-health-cropped-780x440
    WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health

    The IoPPN became a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health (WHOCC) in 1992.

    Project status: Ongoing

    News

    Professor Charlotte Hanlon shares the impact of worldwide collaborations in her Inaugural Lecture

    Professor Charlotte Hanlon delivered the final lecture of the 2022/23 Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) Inaugural Lecture Series,...

    Charlotte hanlon inaugural lecture

    Global collaboration to build researcher capacity and boost mental health research across Africa

    Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London were involved in a global collaboration, hosted by the...

    africa research promo

    The Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health

    Experts call for radical global action to end stigma and discrimination against people with mental health conditions, as this is often ‘worse than the...

    Mental Health

    New NIHR Global Health Research Group on homelessness and severe mental illness in Africa receives £3 million funding

    A major new project which aims to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness and severe mental illness (SMI) in Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya has been...

    Homelessnesss

    New Directors of the Centre for Global Mental Health announced

    King's College London welcomes Professor Crick Lund and Dr Charlotte Hanlon as Co-Directors of the Centre for Global Mental Health.

    Crick Lund and Charlotte Hanlon

    Non-specialist healthcare workers provide effective and safe care for people with severe mental health conditions in rural Ethiopia

    New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London and Addis Ababa University, indicates that...

    Ethiopia

    King's researchers to lead Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Psychoses in a Global Context

    This new international collaboration will develop a global road map for future research, practice and policy to improve the lives of people living with...

    globes

    Researchers call for a reimagining of global mental health in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic

    A new review, co-authored by King’s College London researchers, has explored the potential mental health impacts of Covid-19 in low-income and middle-income...

    Globe-banner-web 1094

    New Co-Directors for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health at IoPPN

    Dr Tatiana Salisbury and Dr Charlotte Hanlon have been appointed as new Co-Directors of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and...

    New Co-Directors for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health at IoPPN

    Events

    11JulCharlotte Hanlon

    Professor Charlotte Hanlon - Inaugural Lecture

    Join us in celebrating Professor Charlotte Hanlon's inaugural lecture on 'Working to improve the things that matter to people with mental health conditions in...

    Please note: this event has passed.

    Features

    IoPPN Inaugural Lectures: 2022-2023

    Inaugural lectures are given by newly arrived or promoted professors, who use the opportunity to introduce themselves, to present an overview of their own...

    Brain in pastel colours

    Spotlight

    Bridging the global mental health gap

    The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 450 million people are affected by mental illness worldwide, contributing to 14% of the global burden of...

    Worldwide perspective

      Research

      iStock-506102084
      Centre for Global Mental Health (CGMH)

      The Centre for Global Mental Health (CGMH) aims to address inequities by closing the care gap, and to reduce human rights abuses experienced by people living with mental, neurological and substance use conditions, particularly in low resource settings with a view to contributing to a world where all people living with mental, neurological and substance use disorders can live a life of meaning and dignity.

      who-collaborating-centre-for-research-and-training-in-mental-health-cropped-780x440
      WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health

      The IoPPN became a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health (WHOCC) in 1992.

      Project status: Ongoing

      News

      Professor Charlotte Hanlon shares the impact of worldwide collaborations in her Inaugural Lecture

      Professor Charlotte Hanlon delivered the final lecture of the 2022/23 Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) Inaugural Lecture Series,...

      Charlotte hanlon inaugural lecture

      Global collaboration to build researcher capacity and boost mental health research across Africa

      Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London were involved in a global collaboration, hosted by the...

      africa research promo

      The Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health

      Experts call for radical global action to end stigma and discrimination against people with mental health conditions, as this is often ‘worse than the...

      Mental Health

      New NIHR Global Health Research Group on homelessness and severe mental illness in Africa receives £3 million funding

      A major new project which aims to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness and severe mental illness (SMI) in Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya has been...

      Homelessnesss

      New Directors of the Centre for Global Mental Health announced

      King's College London welcomes Professor Crick Lund and Dr Charlotte Hanlon as Co-Directors of the Centre for Global Mental Health.

      Crick Lund and Charlotte Hanlon

      Non-specialist healthcare workers provide effective and safe care for people with severe mental health conditions in rural Ethiopia

      New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London and Addis Ababa University, indicates that...

      Ethiopia

      King's researchers to lead Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Psychoses in a Global Context

      This new international collaboration will develop a global road map for future research, practice and policy to improve the lives of people living with...

      globes

      Researchers call for a reimagining of global mental health in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic

      A new review, co-authored by King’s College London researchers, has explored the potential mental health impacts of Covid-19 in low-income and middle-income...

      Globe-banner-web 1094

      New Co-Directors for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health at IoPPN

      Dr Tatiana Salisbury and Dr Charlotte Hanlon have been appointed as new Co-Directors of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and...

      New Co-Directors for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health at IoPPN

      Events

      11JulCharlotte Hanlon

      Professor Charlotte Hanlon - Inaugural Lecture

      Join us in celebrating Professor Charlotte Hanlon's inaugural lecture on 'Working to improve the things that matter to people with mental health conditions in...

      Please note: this event has passed.

      Features

      IoPPN Inaugural Lectures: 2022-2023

      Inaugural lectures are given by newly arrived or promoted professors, who use the opportunity to introduce themselves, to present an overview of their own...

      Brain in pastel colours

      Spotlight

      Bridging the global mental health gap

      The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 450 million people are affected by mental illness worldwide, contributing to 14% of the global burden of...

      Worldwide perspective