Dr Alex Cohen

Alex is an anthropologist with interests in models of community mental health services and sociocultural and environmental influences on the mental health of populations. He has conducted ethnographic research on how social worlds shaped the emotions and behaviours of homeless mentally ill persons living in the Skid Row district of Los Angeles and lead the development of a qualitative case study method to monitor and evaluate community mental health programs in low-income countries. In addition to being co-author of three of the papers in the 2007 Lancet series on Global Mental Health, Alex has edited two case books of mental health programs and have published literature reviews on the mental health of indigenous people, mental health services in primary care and the course and outcome of schizophrenia in low and middle income countries. His recent research includes a project to develop an intervention to prevent depression among at risk older adults in Goa, India. He is currently a co-Investigator on a 5-year study about psychosis in sites in India, Nigeria, and Trinidad.