Our team

Cristian Montenegro is a medical sociologist and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at King’s College London. He is an honorary affiliate at the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health, co-founder of the Programa de Investigación en Salud Mental Global at Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile), and an affiliate of the King's Brazil Institute. His research focuses on psychiatric reform, global mental health, and the role of social science in mental health systems transformation.

Madelene supports the day-to-day coordination of the Transitions project, assisting with logistics, communications, and administrative processes across institutions. She plays a key role in ensuring smooth collaboration between team members, partners, and advisory board participants.

Dr. Felipe Szabzon holds a postdoctoral fellowship from the Centre for Culture and the Mind at the University of Copenhagen (CULTMIND). He earned a PhD in Dynamics of Health and Welfare from the Phoenix Joint Doctoral Programme, with a dual degree from the National School of Public Health at NOVA University Lisbon (ENSP/UNL) and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris (EHESS). He holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of São Paulo (FSP/USP) and a background in psychology from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP).

Felipe is a researcher at the Brazilian Centre for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), where he is part of the Health, Citizenship and Development Research Group (NSCD), and also a researcher at the Psychiatric Epidemiology Group (NEP) at the Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo. His recent work focuses on strengthening dialogue and analysis around public health systems and policies in Latin America, with an emphasis on mental health policies and psychiatric reform.

Dr. Sofía Bowen holds a PhD in Anthropology from King’s College London, specialising in medical anthropology and the anthropology of mental health and psychiatry. She also holds a Master’s degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the Universidad de Chile.

Dr. Bowen has worked as a lecturer in Anthropology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and has participated in interdisciplinary public health research teams. Her work explores the intersection of psychiatric and medical practices, the lived experience of distress, and the exercise of medico-bureaucratic power. She has conducted fieldwork in Chile on mental and occupational health, examining how citizenship, agency, and suffering are recognised and negotiated within socio-political and institutional frameworks

Public health specialist with extensive experience in community mental health services, policy advising, and academic leadership. Director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre in Mental Health at the University of Chile.

Psychologist and academic focused on community-based mental health, service design, and participatory approaches. Leads applied research and training initiatives, and coordinates the Mental Health Program at the School of Public Health.

Psychiatrist and professor with expertise in child and adolescent mental health, psychiatric reform, and public policy. Leads the LEPSIA research group and serves as National Secretary of WAPR-Brasil.

Clinical psychologist and mental health researcher based in Buenos Aires. Co-founder of Proyecto Suma, where he leads research on recovery, stigma, peer support, and evaluation of mental health services.

Cultural historian researching psychiatry, violence, and decolonisation in 20th-century Europe and beyond. She leads major projects on transcultural psychiatry and the global history of the psyche. Head of the Centre for Culture and the Mind.

Medical anthropologist researching psychiatric reform, adolescence, and global health policy. Co-leads the ethnographic sub-study of the Pelotas Birth Cohort and writes across anthropology, psychiatry, and Latin American studies.

Physician and public health researcher focused on community mental health, social inclusion, and stigma. Director of the Institute of Health Sciences at UOH and PI of applied research on mental health and autism in Chile.

Psychologist, public health health specialist and Chief of Mental Health Department, Ministry of Health, Chile.

Clinical psychologist and researcher focused on early psychosis, social drivers of mental illness, and Housing First policy in Brazil. She works at the intersection of clinical practice, policy, and research in the U.S. and Latin America.

Psychiatrist, Coordinator of the Laboratory of Studies and Research in Mental Health and Psychosocial Care at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, and President of the Brazilian Association of Mental Health.

Legal scholar focused on mental health, drug policy, and human rights. Director of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy and co-founder of the Centre for Mental Health, Human Rights, and Social Justice.

ICREA Research Professor in medical anthropology focused on psychiatry, neuroscience, and global mental health. Member of the Global Social Medicine Network and former professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro.

Historian of psychiatry and public health, with work on social psychiatry, deinstitutionalization, and ADHD. Co-editor of Mental Health in Historical Perspective book series.

Mental health researcher, antimanicomial activist, and service user. Organizer of Brazil’s 1st and 2nd National Free Conferences of Mental Health Service Users. Member of several national collectives including FASM Nacional and the Tá Pirando, Pirado, Pirou! carnival collective.

Historian of medicine and global health, specialising in socialist health systems, epidemics, and Cold War politics. Leads major international projects on global health history and is President of the European Association for the History of Medicine and Health.