Dr. Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, BM MSc MD PhD MFPH, is the group leader of the Mental Health | Policy | Economics group at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge. His research delves into the nexus between health policy and economics and public mental health, specifically examining how health inequalities and socio-economic factors influence mental health outcomes.

Dr. Andres Roman-Urrestarazu is Affiliated Researcher at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, and is a Research Associate of The Centre of Latin American Studies, both at the University of Cambridge. Furthermore, he leads the health systems stream of the Lancet Commission on Problematic Use of the Internet. He is Assistant Professor in International Health at Maastricht University, The Netherlands, while also being a LSE Health Digital Fellow at the Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, and a visiting professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

He is also theme lead for the mental health epidemiology course for the MPhil Population Health Science at the University of Cambridge. His past roles include being a Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice at Stanford University and Gillings Fellow in Public Health at the University of Cambridge and the Institut Louis Pasteur in Paris. With a diverse skill set, he is an academic psychiatrist, public health researcher, and health economist. Moreover, he is a Member of the Faculty of Public Health, and has worked for as a civil servant in organizations such as NICE, and consulted for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organisation Europe Office, and the Chilean Ministry of Health.

Dr. Andres Roman-Urrestarazu is open to PhD applications.

Dr Blanca Larrain is Research Associate in Health Economics and Policy in our group. Dr Blanca Larrain is a social scientist and has a PhD in Social Development Planning at University College of London, UK. She studied psychology at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile followed by a Master in Sociology at Alberto Hurtado University and then completed an MSc in Social Development Practice at UCL. She has worked as a researcher, consultant, and practitioner, for international organizations, public institutions, the private sector and NGO/civil society organizations. Her work and research explore social development, public policies analysis, citizen-state relationships (governance and participation) as well as gender and inclusion, mainly in Latin America and the UK. Central to her research ethos is the critical evaluation of public policies. Larrain adopts a holistic lens, encompassing the policy's lifecycle from its genesis, through its implementation, to its tangible impact on communities.

Dr Robin van Kessel, with his background in comparative health policy and public health, focuses on the intersection of digital health, health systems and policy, and mental health. His research aims to advance the field of digital health considering its potential to streamline health service delivery, expand healthcare access to marginalised communities, and unlock ways of stemming rising healthcare costs. Among his contributions to the field are a conceptual framework containing 85 factors that can affect the implementation of digital health solutions in a health system, a cross-country analysis of digital health reimbursement strategies in the European region, and an investigation of how public interest in digital health changed over the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. His work is published in leading medical and health policy journals such as JAMA Pediatrics, The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, and The BMJ. His work in digital health has been recognised internationally, seeing as he presented his research in numerous international scientific and policy conferences, his work has been included in public health educational and training curricula, as well as policy documents of the World Health Organization, and he is invited as guest speaker at universities in England, the Netherlands, Malta, and South Korea. He has also done consulting work for the World Health Organization, the World Economic Forum, Roche, AstraZeneca, MSD Merck on topics related to digital health, public health, and health systems and policies.

Dr Justin Yang is affiliated with the Mental Health | Policy | Economics Group and holds a PhD from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge. He is a currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the Division of Psychiatry at University College London where his research focuses on using epidemiological, causal inference, and data science methods on administrative and routinely collected data to better understand and treat serious mental health conditions such as addiction and psychosis. Dr Yang is also an honorary lecturer in the Wolfson Institute of Public Health, Queen Mary University of London. He holds a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and has worked in private consultancy in the health sector where his clients included life sciences corporations, patient advocacy groups, and non-profit charities.

Dr Aicha Massrali is Research Fellow in mental health policy at the Mental Health | Policy | Economics Group and has a PhD in Psychiatry/Clinical neuroscience from the University of Cambridge (supervised by Prof. Simon Baron-Cohen). This was followed by a postdoctoral position at Cambridge in collaboration with KCL and the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focused on the combined use of stem cell and genetic engineering technologies to develop an autism live model of early brain development. She also investigated autism epigenetics, examining correlations between methylation signatures in cord blood and social responsiveness and communication skills. Beyond her lab work, Dr. Massrali is dedicated to global mental health policies and services. As an expert consultant at the WHO’s (EMRO) to map policies and resources for children and adolescents with developmental difficulties. Her expertise has also earned her a place on the roster of consultants for the WHO's Brain Health Unit at Geneva. Furthermore, she is affiliated with EDUCAUS, researching education policies across Europe, and is a scholar at the Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health, focusing on mental health policies in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in the MENA region. Her diverse portfolio of research and consulting endeavours underscores her dedication to advancing our understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions and enhancing global mental health initiatives.