Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

Research Group: Mental Health

The Mental Health Research Group studies (1) the epidemiology of mental illness, (2) interactions between mental illness and physical diseases, (3) the provision of mental health care, and (4) the influence of mental illness on the treatment of physical comorbidities.

Research group members

Group leader

Name / Titel: Haas Andreas, PD, PhD
Funktion: Head of Research Group
Mail: andreas.haas@unibe.ch

Phone: +41 31 684 68 73

Group members

Name / Titel: Gastaldon Chiara, MD, PhD
Funktion: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Mail: chiara.gastaldon@unibe.ch

Phone: +41 31 684 35 05

Name / Titel: Ruffieux Yann, MSc
Funktion: Research Associate
Mail: yann.ruffieux@unibe.ch

Phone: +41 31 684 35 05

Name / Titel: Whitesell Skrivankova Veronika, PhD
Funktion: Research Fellow, Statistician
Mail: veronika.skrivankova@unibe.ch

Phone: +41 31 684 33 82

Ongoing projects

IeDEA International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA IV): Mental health and substance use disorders in people living with HIV in Southern Africa (NIH 2021-2026)
Pathways from mental illness to the burden of disease: A causal mediation analysis of big data from South Africa (SNF Ambizione, 2021-2025)

Completed projects

Pragmatic cluster randomized trial to assess the effect of a psychological intervention on antiretroviral therapy and mental health outcomes among HIV-positive adults in rural Zimbabwe (NIH 2018-2021). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.23205
Estimation of the life-years lost associated with mental illness in South Africa. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.08.013
Cohort study on mental health, ART adherence, and viral suppression among people living with HIV in South Africa. DOI: 10.1007/s10461-022-03916-x
Cohort study on the management of opioid use disorder in a South African private sector medical insurance scheme. DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103853
Systematic review on mental health of migrants with pre-migration exposure to armed conflict. DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00061-5
Interrupted-time series analysis on the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on mental health care use in South Africa. DOI: 10.1017/S2045796022000270
Cohort study of mortality and HIV treatment outcomes in HIV-positive adults in Cape Town, South Africa. DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30279-5
Implementation of a mental health screening program in a pediatric HIV clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa. DOI: 10.1002/jia2.25644
Estimation of the treatment gap for mental disorders in people living with HIV in South Africa. DOI: 10.1017/S2045796021000196
Cross-sectional study of symptoms of mental disorders and adherence to antiretroviral therapy among adults living with HIV in rural Zimbabwe. DOI: 10.1101/2021.05.22.21257636