University of Addis Ababa

Wubalem is an AMARI PhD fellow from Ethiopia. He obtained his BSc in Nursing from Hawassa University in 2011 and then worked as an assistant lecturer at Wolaita Sodo University for two years. Following this, he joined University of Gondar and Amanuel Mental specialized hospital in 2014 for his Master’s degree in mental health in August. Since 2015 he has been a faculty member at the Department of Psychiatry in Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.

Wubalem’s main research interest is Severe Mental Illness (SMI), focusing on schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, in addition to family-focused treatment for SMI. His PhD thesis for the AMARI fellowship is to assess the trans-generational impact of SMI on immediate family members in rural Ethiopia. The future aim for this project is to develop a family-focused intervention for SMI in Ethiopia. He is also interested in community mental health, stigma, maternal mental health, substance misuse, child and adolescent psychiatry and economic studies in mental health.

Supervisors:

Dr Abebaw Fekadu (Primary supervisor, Addis Ababa University & King's College London)

Prof Tom Craig (External supervisor, King's College London).