I grew up in a small industrial town in North India. At 16 I won the National Science Talent Search Scholarship. I attended medical school at the Armed Forces Medical College at Poona University.

I’ve gone on to attain a number of qualifications including an MBBS, the Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery from the Society of the Apothecaries, a PhD from the University of London, an MPhil from Leicester University, an MSc (Sociology) from South Bank University and an MA (Social Anthropology) from the University of London.

I am a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal Society of Medicine, the Royal College of Physicians, the Faculty of Public Health and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

I have received honours from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, American Psychiatricy Association, the American College of Psychiatrists, the Academy of Medical Sciences (Singapore), the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists and the International Medical Sciences Academy. In 2015, I received a Special Commendation from the American Psychiatric Association and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association Federation of Psychiatrist Associations (AFPA) and Honoris causa from National University of Paraguay. In 2017, I received the Presidential Medal from the President of Indian Psychiatric Society. Honorary membership of South African Society of Psychiatry in 2016; and Presidential recommendation from Ecuadorean Society of Psychiatry. I am a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Educators and am a founding member of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management.

In 2011 I was appointed Chair of the Mental Health Foundation & I am currently President of the Foundation.
I am President of the World Psychiatric Association (2014-2017).
Non-Executive Director, Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
President-Elect, British Medical Association (July 2017-June 2018)
I was awarded a CBE for services to psychiatry in the 2012 New Year’s Honours.

As Professor of Mental Health and Cultural Diversity at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, England, I specialise in the following areas of social psychiatry:

  • Psychosexual medicine
  • Cross-cultural psychiatry
  • Professionalism in psychiatry
  • Decision making by psychiatrists and patients
  • Depression
  • Pathways into psychiatric care
  • Deliberate self-harm
  • Primary Care

I led on developing a Bill of Rights for people with mental illness which was launched at the House of Lords in October 2016. The recommendations followed from an international survey of 193 member states of the United Nations. The survey showed that discrimination in personal, social, economic and political spheres is widespread. Detailed findings are presented in the special issue of International Review of Psychiatry (2016, Volume 8, Issue 4).

My full CV is available to  download.