Our People - Engage Wellness

MEET THE INTERNATIONAL TEAM

Milton L. Wainberg

Prof. of Clinical Psychiatry; Co-Director, Division of Translational Epidemiology and Mental Health Equity

About Milton L. Wainberg

Dr. Wainberg is a Latino Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and the Founder and Director of the Columbia University Mental Wellness Equity Center at New York State Psychiatric Institute. He is the founding Chair of the APA Caucus on Global Mental Health & Psychiatry. His work brings research to practice within systems of care in low-resource settings in the US, Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South America, while training the next generation of research to practice implementation scientists in the US and abroad. His research addresses mental and substance use disorders’ disparities in diverse populations across cultures.

Jennifer Mootz

Director of Technology Development, Assistant Professor of Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry)

About Jennifer Mootz

Dr. Jennifer Mootz is a licensed psychologist, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia University, and Research Scientist at the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene/New York State Psychiatric Institute. She earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology from Texas Woman’s University in 2015. Her NIMH-funded research has focused on reducing the global mental health and substance use treatment gap in low-income and humanitarian settings internationally and in the US through digitized innovations and consideration of social determinants. She has partnered with community and governmental agencies to conduct research on implementation of comprehensive mental health care scale-up of services. Jennifer was honored to receive two awards from the American Psychological Association for her global research on intersections between armed conflict and gender-based violence. She has been identified as one of 35 emerging psychologists across 22 different countries by the International Congress of Psychology.

Miriam Tepper

Co-Director, Mental Wellness Equity Center; Research Psychiatrist, New York State Psychiatric Institute; Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center

About Miriam Tepper

For the first 15 years of my career, I developed, led, and evaluated innovative approaches to screening, early intervention, and ongoing care for those with serious mental illness in community settings while working as a clinician and leader at Cambridge Health Alliance and as Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. I also served as Cambridge Health Alliance’s Medical Director of the Division of Population Behavioral Health Innovation, during which time I led the implementation of a novel measurement tool into outpatient clinical practice in order to lay building blocks for measurement-based care and a learning health system. In fall 2021, I moved to New York! Since that time I’ve been thrilled to be a part of the Equity Center’s mission-drive work

Annika Sweetland

Director of Research and Evaluation

About Annika Sweetland

Dr. Annika Sweetland is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons and Mailman School of Public Health. For over 20 years, she has conducted global mental health work in Latin America (Peru, Haiti, Brazil), Africa (Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa) and the United States, and is a global expert on the intersection of tuberculosis (TB) and depression. In addition to running a large-scale clinical trial in South Africa, she oversees all research and evaluation activities for the Mental Wellness Equity Center.

Oscar Jimenez-Solomon

Prof. of Clinical Psychiatry; Co-Director, Division of Translational Epidemiology and Mental Health Equity

About Oscar Jimenez-Solomon

Oscar Jiménez-Solomon is a mental health and social policy researcher. His work aims to reduce mental health and social inequities by addressing the social determinants of mental health through research and development of multisectoral interventions.

Since 2013 Oscar has served as Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, where he is affiliated with two research centers. At the New York State Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence, Oscar leads a study to develop and test a peer-led financial empowerment intervention to reduce financial hardship and suicide risk. In 2022, Oscar joined the Mental Wellness Equity Center, where he leads the development of a community-based strategy to reduce financial hardship as a social determinant of mental health.

For over 20 years, Oscar has led or collaborated in research and program and policy development in the United States, his native Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Chile. Oscar holds a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, a Bachelor of Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He is also a PhD. Candidate in Social Policy at the Columbia University School of Social Work. His past roles include Director of Economic Development at the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, Officer of Research at the Mailman School of Public Health, Research Associate at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and international consultant at the United Nations Population Fund.

MEET THE SOUTH AFRICAN TEAM

Gustaaf Wolvaardt

Dr Gustaaf Wolvaardt is the Managing Director of FPD with more than 30 years in Global Public Health at international and national level.

About Dr. Gustaaf Wolvaardt

Dr Gustaaf Wolvaardt is an internal medicine specialist with additional qualifications in management and education and renowned global public health expert. He served as the 1st South African Health Attache, based in Geneva, tasked with normalizing South Africa’s relationship in the post-apartheid era. In this position he initiated several public health programmes in South Africa including oral rehydration, Hepatitis B vaccination, the National Cancer registry and the Tuberculosis DOTS programme. He also drafted the resolution whereby the World Health Organization (WHO) declared violence a leading worldwide public health problem in 1996 through resolution WHA49.25. He was also intimately involved in establishing UNAIDS and was the elected Interim Chairperson of the 3rd session of the Programme Co-ordination Board of UNAIDS in 1996.

He is the Founder and Managing Director of the Foundation for Professional Development (FPD), a role he has held since its inception in 1997. Under his leadership, FPD has spearheaded numerous large-scale projects funded by USAID and CDC, focusing on critical health issues such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, gender-based violence, mental health and system strengthening in education and health sectors. FPDs HIV/AIDS programme supported the initiation of over 1,1 million people on live saving AIDS treatment and conducted over 12 million HIV tests.
A pivotal figure in the professionalization of health management and leadership, especially in Africa, Dr Wolvaardt through FPDs Business School launched one of the continent’s largest health leadership development initiatives. His programs have successfully trained over 6,000 health managers from 13 countries, enhancing the capacity of senior health leaders including offering prestigious programmes in collaboration with Yale School of Public Health and Alliance Manchester Business School. Currently he is leading a global initiative to increase access to high quality affordable transformational leadership development through asynchronous online education. FPD is also a leader in professional development and has more than 600 000 alumni across 110 countries.

Dr Wolvaardt is deeply committed to the advancement of civil society organizations both in Africa and globally. He is a founding member of several key organizations, including the International Society for Violence and Injury Prevention, AIDS Accountability International, the South African Alliance for the Prevention of Substance Abuse, the South African Institute of Health Care Managers, and the World Medical Association (African Region). He has significantly contributed to the growth of the International AIDS Society by developing their Conference Department and supporting the establishment of the Association for Social Sciences and Humanities in AIDS.

Dr Wolvaardt is frequently invited to discuss topics such as fundraising, sustainability of membership organizations, health systems strengthening, health professions education, and the use of technology in system enhancement at national and international conferences. He has served on numerous national and international advisory boards, including the South African National Commission of the Lancet Global Health Commission on High Quality Health Systems in the SDG Era, and the Academy of Sciences of South Africa’s study panel on health workforce education. His extensive governance experience includes serving on 9 Boards of Directors

Melvyn Freeman

Prof Melvyn Freeman is the Mental Health Technical Advisor for the IMHSI project and previously National Director for Mental Health and Substance Abuse and then Chief Director for NCDs at the NDoH

About Melvyn Freema

Melvyn Freeman is a consultant for the Foundation for Professional Development on mental health and HIV. A clinical psychologist by training, he has been involved in public health policy and legislation as well as health advocacy for over 35 years as researcher, activist, developer and implementer. He was previously National Director for Mental Health and Substance Abuse and then Chief Director for Non-communicable Diseases at the National Department of Health. He is an expert advisor to the World Health Organization and has been responsible for writing numerous documents and manuals on mental health for them. He has published extensively on matters of public health including youth mental health, health systems and services, mental health and HIV and community care. Melvyn has a particular concern regarding the social determinants of health and illness. He holds the position of Professor Extraordinaire at the University of Stellenbosch.

Cammila

Dr Camila is a psychiatrist from Brazil who has studied Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) since 2010. Since 2012 she has trained non mental health professionals to deliver IPT and its simplified version, Interpersonal Counseling (IPC)

About Camila Tanabe Matsuzaka,

Camila is a psychiatrist from Brazil who has studied Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) since 2010. Since 2012 she has trained non mental health professionals to deliver IPT and its simplified version, Interpersonal Counseling (IPC). She was mentored by Dr Marcelo Feijó de Mello, from Federal University of São Paulo, and Dr Milton Wainberg, from Columbia University, to conduct an RCT using task-shared IPC by community health workers in Brazil. This study was also part of a meta analysis and has been used in other studies in the Global Mental Health field.

Dr Matsuzaka has focused on implementation and dissemination of IPC for LMIC and has worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo, different settings in Brazil, Mozambique and, since 2023, in South Africa

Camila is certificated by the International Society of IPT, ISIPT, as IPT supervisor and trainer and is a member of ISIPT Certification Committee and the Brazilian IPT Chapter.

Ernesha Webb Mazinyo

Dr. Ernesha Webb Mazinyo is a global health researcher specializing in dissemination and implementation science with a passion for improving adolescent and youth mental health.

About Ernesha Webb Mazinyo

Dr. Ernesha Webb Mazinyo is a global health researcher specializing in dissemination and implementation science with a passion for improving adolescent and youth mental health. With over 25 years of experience spanning all levels of the health system, Dr. Mazinyo has worked extensively in the U.S., South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi. Her research is rooted in community-engaged and participatory approaches, emphasizing culturally responsive methods. Currently, she is focused on adapting evidence-based mental health interventions for church settings, aiming to bridge gaps in access to care. Dr. Mazinyo is committed to advancing equitable mental health services globally through collaborative and innovative research

Nosihle Madikane

Nosihle Madikane has a deep-rooted interest in social work and public health. She obtained her Honour’s Degree in Social Work from Nelson Mandela University and is a candidate for a Master’s in Public Health at the University of South Africa (UNISA).