Projects

Team members responsible: Kristina Adorjan (Co-Lead), Laura Oetzel and Juliane Kahl

In collaboration with: Medical University of Vienna, Austria and International Lancet Psychiatry Commission

This working group is part of a larger commission reviewing mental health interventions during climate events. It focuses specifically on evaluating the economic and financial dimensions of these interventions, including costs, cost-effectiveness and resource implications, especially concering scalability of preventions and interventions. To achieve this, the group is conducting several systematic literature reviews to synthesize existing evidence and identify gaps for future research.

Team members responsible: Kristina Adorjan, Juliane Kahl and Laura Oetzel

In collaboration with: International Lancet Psychiatry Commission

Building on the findings of the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Climate Change and Mental Health, this international group guides stakeholders and commissioners in translating these insights into policy and practice.

Team members responsible: Laura Oetzel and Juliane Kahl

In collaboration with: International Lancet Psychiatry Commission

This output aims to raise awareness of the mental health impacts/interventions of climate change on children and young people, drawing on evidence from the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Climate Change and Mental Health. It is designed as an advocacy and communication tool for use by clinicians, policymakers, educators, young people, and families. By translating Commission findings into accessible, visually compelling content, it seeks to make the case that youth and children's mental health must be recognised as a core component of climate action and policy.

Team members responsible: Juliane Kahl, Laura Oetzel and Kristina Adorjan

This project aims to develop an interactive platform guiding researchers through systematic literature reviews, from the initial idea based on a research gap to the publication. It will embed PRISMA standards, support search strategy development and assist with manuscript writing.
It should integrate with existing tools, suggests keywords and controlled vocabulary, and adapts search syntax across databases. A “playground” enables testing search strings with real-time feedback.
Learning modules and AI/expert support are supposed to build lasting skills, with a focus on improving access and support for researchers in low- and middle-income countries.

Team members responsible: Juliane Kahl, Laura Oetzel and Kristina Adorjan

This research project on technology-facilitated abuse and coercive control in gender-based violence (GBV), focuses on affected patients in clinical settings in Bern and potentially across Switzerland. It aims to assess prevalence, risk factors and individual experiences using a mixed-methods approach, including qualitative research.
The project also seeks to build an international research network and inform better integration of GBV-related risks into healthcare systems.
It will lay the groundwork for upcoming larger projects in this study field.

Team members responsible: Laura Oetzel and Kristina Adorjan

In collaboration with: Jimma University, Ethiopia and Africa Institute of Mental and Brain Health (AFRIMEB), Kenya

This project addresses the existing gap of voluntary interventions for emotionally dysregulated males to reduce IPV against their pregnant female partners in low-income countries. In the context of MAP-IPV the “Harmful Anger Mitigation Intervention” (HAMI) was developed and initially evaluated in Kenya. The full HAMI is a blended intervention that combines a short face-to-face anger management skill group training for men and a subsequent mobile phone-delivered Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) that supports application of the learned skills in their daily lives. The primary objective of the study is to test the feasibility and efficacy of this blended intervention in a field setting in Ethiopia with the data of male and female partners.

Team members responsible: Kristina Adorjan and Laura Oetzel

In collaboration with: Jimma University, Ethiopia

The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the impact of lifestyle factors, particularly khat use, seasonal variation in its availability and traumatic experiences, on mental health among young men in the Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center, Ethiopia. Psychotic experiences were the primary outcome, while symptoms of depression and anxiety are being examined as secondary outcomes. Furthermore, genetic analyses, including genome-wide association studies (GWAS), were conducted to complement the phenotypic and environmental assessments.

Team members responsible: Kristina Adorjan, Andreas Haas, Laura Oetzel and Ladina Amrein

In collaboration with: Jimma University, Ethiopia

The project aims to address the major gap in understanding the causes of psychosis in Ethiopia and other LMICs by integrating genetic and environmental factors. It will examine how genetic variation interacts with environmental exposures such as khat use, trauma, food insecurity and climate-related stress to influence the onset and course of psychosis. Using a large longitudinal cohort with deep phenotyping and genome-wide data, the study seeks to identify population-specific risk loci and gene–environment interactions. The ultimate goal is to improve etiological models and inform culturally adapted prevention, diagnosis, and intervention strategies for psychosis in African settings.

Team members responsible: Andreas Haas

In collaboration with: ISPM and UCT

IeDEA is a global research consortium funded by the US National Institutes of Health that studies the long-term outcomes of people living with HIV. In collaboration with the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Bern and the Centre for Integrated Data and Epidemiological Research at the University of Cape Town, we conduct epidemiological and health services research on mental disorders, substance use, and suicidal behaviour among people living with HIV in Southern Africa.

Team members responsible: Andreas Haas

In collaboration with: UCT

Funded by the Wellcome Trust, this project aims to develop digital tools to improve care for common and severe mental health conditions in the public healthcare sector of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. These tools include a mental health dashboard to monitor mental health service utilisation patterns across the province and a digital platform to support healthcare providers in re-engaging people with severe mental disorders who have disengaged from care.

Team members responsible: Andreas Haas and Kristina Adorjan

In collaboration with: UCT

Pilot study to establish an electronic registry of individuals presenting to a tertiary care teaching hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, following intentional self-harm.

Team members responsible: Kristina Adorjan and Juliane Kahl

In collaboration with: Zewditu Getachew Foundation, Addis Ababa

The general objective of this project is to establish and enhance psychosocial support and mental health services specifically tailored for breast cancer patients and their families in Ethiopia. 

Team members responsible: Juliane Kahl and Kristina Adorjan

In collaboration with: Manufacturing Industry Development Institute (MIDI), Ethiopia, Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI), Ethiopia and LMU Klinikum Munich

Funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the Bavarian State Chancellery, this project assess workers' occupational exposure to toxic metals and its relationship with their mental health and psychological strain in Ethiopian tanneries.

Team members responsible: Kristina Adorjan and Juliane Kahl

In collaboration with: Gefyra AI Technologies

The primary aim is to validate the detection accuracy of the ELSA model across diverse countries and cohorts. 
The secondary aim is to examine associations and predictive relationships between substance use, traumatic experiences, suicidality, psychotic symptoms, psychological resilience, and non-psychiatric variables assessed by ELSA, including comparisons between high-income and low- and middle-income countries. 
The tertiary aim is to utilize cross-national university student data to train models that enhance the generalizability and cultural applicability of ELSA.

Team members responsible: Juliane Kahl and Kristina Adorjan

In collaboration with: Holition Ltd.

This project’s objective is to evaluate and address the global mental health challenges associated with the fashion industry by visualisation and integrating a data collection, analysis, and dissemination strategies tailored for diverse stakeholders, including academia, industry, policymakers, and the public.
The framework combines quantitative and qualitative  research (phase 1), 
visualisation of the results (phase 2), 
stakeholder engagement (phase 3), 
and the creation of actionable tools for change (phase 4).

Team members responsible: Kristina Adorjan and Juliane Kahl

In collaboration with: Jimma University, Ethiopia and ALERT Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This interdisciplinary project examines the medical, psychosocial, and cultural dimensions of leprosy, focusing on stigma as a historically and socially embedded phenomenon. It integrates psychiatric perspectives with artistic methods, combining interviews, textile design (through psychosocial intervention workshops with a focus on embroidery and weaving) and visual art to explore lived experiences of stigma, trauma, and resilience. The project will culminate in a travel exhibition, launched in Bern, and a publication that synthesize empirical and artistic insights across academic and cultural contexts.

Team members responsible: Amber Gayle Thalmayer 

In collaboration with: University of Namibia, University of the Western Cape, University of the Free State, University of the Witwatersrand and Catholic University of Eastern Africa

A longitudinal study of mental health and personality development in Namibia, Kenya, and South Africa since 2022, now expanding to Nigeria and Ghana. We are following a cohort of 18 year olds, learning about their life experienes and opprotunties, and how these shape, and are shaped by, personality traits, psycholgical disorder symtoms, and cultural values, and how these traits and values develop over the span of emerging adulthood.

Team members responsible: Kristina Adorjan and Markus P. Schirmer

In collaboration with: Jimma Universtiy, Ethiopia and ZI Mannheim

This review aims to summarize exisiting literature on Positive Mental Health and Well-Being in Ethiopia. It will highlight peer-reviewed papers conducted after 2000 that focus on characteristics that facilitate mental health and well-being. By assessing biological, psychological, social and cultural factors. The review is meant to broaden our understanding of protecting factors for mental health in Ethiopia and will be published alongside reviews from different African countries, e.g. Kenya and Uganda.