Editorial Team
At Mental Health Open, our Editorial Team plays a crucial role in ensuring the journal's quality, integrity, and impact. The team is composed of the Chief Editor and Chief Co-Editor, Editorial Board Members, and Thematic Issues Editors, each contributing to the journal’s mission of advancing mental health research and knowledge.
Chief Editor
ScD in Social Psychology, PhD in Developmental Psychology, PGDip in Global Mental Health; President of GlobalInMind; Postdoctoral Researcher (University of Luxembourg); Research Fellow (University of Glasgow); Secretary of the National Psychological Association (Ukraine); Mental Health Expert and WG Member: WHO TAG on Disability and Inclusion (WHO/Europe); UNICEF MICS Expert; EU-PROMENS Project Mental Health Expert.
Chief Co-Editor
ScD in Social Psychology, PhD in Developmental Psychology, Vice-President of GlobalInMind; Research Scientist (University of Luxembourg); RTM Protocol™ Lead Trainer; Chair of EuroPsy National Awarding Committee, Ukraine.
Contact us: editor@mentalhealthopen.eu
Editorial Board
The Editorial Board oversees the journal’s strategic direction, ensuring that published content aligns with the highest academic and ethical standards. Their responsibilities include:
Offering specialised knowledge and expertise to support the journal’s scope and academic integrity.
Suggesting qualified reviewers to ensure a rigorous peer-review process.
Identifying emerging research areas for commissioned works or themed issues.
Providing strategic guidance to shape the journal’s direction and development.
Acting as an external advisor to uphold accountability within the journal’s editorial team.
Recommending potential contributors, including authors and guest editors.
Conducting peer reviews and offering constructive feedback on article quality, relevance, and structure.
Contributing occasional editorials and short-form content to enrich the journal’s discussions.
Advocating for the journal by engaging with researchers, encouraging submissions, and expanding readership.
Editorial Board Members
Dr. Mary Bunn, PhD, LCSW is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Department of Psychiatry. She is also Co-Director of the Global Mental Health Research and Training Program at the UIC Center for Global Health and runs a therapy clinic for refugees and asylum seekers. Her research focuses on development of community-based mental health prevention and care interventions for survivors of war and political violence across the migration continuum. This involves working collaboratively with practitioners, policymakers and people with lived experience to develop a spectrum of services that improve mental health and strengthen families and social systems of care and connection.
Dr. Ashti Doobay-Persaud is an Associate Professor of Medicine and hospitalist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she is the Co-Director of the Center for Global Health Education, Director of the McGaw Global Health Clinical Scholars Program, and faculty director for the Master of Science in Global Health. She has become a national and international expert and leader in pedagogy, focusing on ethical practice, curriculum development, health professions education, and faculty training in collaboration with global partners, especially with medical and educational institutions in Africa and partnerships with AFREhealth. She is also an Academic Editor at PLOS Global Health and BMC Medical Education and was recognised with CUGH’s Hall-Sewankambo Mid-Career Leadership Award in 2022.
Dr. Iryna Frankova is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology at the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Amsterdam Public Health Institute at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Psychologist and Senior Researcher at Centrum 45, the ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre, the Netherlands.
Dr. Global Mental Health Researcher and educator based at the University of Glasgow. Holds a PhD in Public Health and Health Policy. Experienced in community-engaged knowledge exchange and innovative qualitative methodologies. Passionate about developing future skills and meta-skills.
Dr. Eleni Karayianni is the Director of the University of Cyprus Mental Health Centre. Prior to this position, she held the position of Clinical Training Coordinator for the PhD in Clinical Psychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus. She has experience that spans academia, clinical practice, civil society, and policy making.
Prof. Brandon Kohrt, MD, PhD is a psychiatrist and anthropologist who has worked for 25 years to improve mental health services in countries affected by war and political violence, disasters, and other forms of adversity. He holds the Charles and Sonia Akman Professorship in Global Psychiatry at George Washington University, where he is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Global Health, and Anthropology, and Director of the GW Center for Global Mental Health Equity. He works regularly with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and humanitarian organizations around the world. Dr. Kohrt is the academic partner lead for the World Health Organization/Unicef Ensuring Quality In Psychosocial and Mental Healthcare (EQUIP) initiative to establish competency frameworks and assessments for providers of psychological and other mental health services around the world.
Prof. Julie Langan Martin is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Education in the School of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow. She is the programme Director of both the on-campus and online distance learning (ODL) Masters in Global Mental Health. She is Chair of the Scottish ECT Audit Network (SEAN) and is an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist. Her research interests are in Global Mental Health, multi-morbidity, ECT, the interface between major mental illness (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) and physical health co-morbidity and perinatal mental illness.
Gergana Manolova is a global mental health researcher and psychologist who has worked on projects spanning academia, civil society and the UN system, combing through the science to apply it to policies and programmes. She is currently a DrPH candidate at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Prof. John Oates is Emeritus Professor of Developmental Psychology at the Open University UK and Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society. His main fields of research are perinatal mental health, research ethics and Romani studies. He has contributed to early childhood programmes Sure Start and Early Support in UK, and Biztos Kezdet in Hungary.
Dr. Valeriia Palii is the Academic Director of Psychology Programs at Kyiv School of Economics and Vice President of the National Psychological Association of Ukraine.
Prof. Dr. Elisa Pfeiffer is a German Professor for Clinical Psychology and Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and heads a scientific working group on trauma in children and adolescents at Ulm University. She is also a licensed child and adolescent psychotherapist (cognitive behavioural therapy) and head of an outpatient treatment centre for children and adolescents. Her main research focus is psychotraumatology in children and adolescents, as well as misophonia.
Dr Zsófia Szlamka is a psychologist and a Forbes 30under30 social entrepreneur. Zsofia co-founded Let’s CEE, the first youth mental health centre of Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on designing and implementing youth mental health models of care. She is also the founder of AMKA Counselling, a cross-cultural mental health consultancy focusing on the Central and Eastern European markets. She is a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics, and Research Lead at Orygen Global, Australia’s centre of excellence for youth mental health.
Thematic Issues/Sections Editors
The Thematic Issues Editors specialise in curating and managing specific issues dedicated to key topics in mental health. Their responsibilities include:
Identifying emerging themes and proposing special issues.
Inviting expert contributors and overseeing content selection.
Ensuring coherence and relevance within thematic issues.
Collaborating with reviewers to maintain high-quality standards.
Together, our Editorial Team ensures that Mental Health Open becomes a leading platform for innovative research and meaningful discussions in the field of mental health.
Our Editorial team is constantly evolving, so if you want to join, please get in touch with us, send your CV and vision of your role in the Editorial Team: editor@mentalhealthopen.eu