Team ThinkStrong, Anisha Gururaj & Ashley Pople from the University of Oxford, recently won the prestigious Global Challenge with their project focusing on maternal depression.

For their project, ThinkStrong researched maternal mental health services in low-resource environments, with a focus on capacity-building initiatives in screening and treatment. Their research led them to various projects housed at the Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health. The Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP), EMERging mentAL health systems in low- and miDdle-income countries (EMERALD), PRogramme for Improving Mental health carE (PRIME), AFrica Focus on Intervention Research for Mental health (AFFIRM) all feature in their award-winning project and staff from the various projects also assisted Gururaj and Pople with the project.

“It was wonderful to see that this highly neglected issue was recognised and appreciated for its importance,” said the winning team.

The Global Challenge is a chance for students and recent graduates to learn more about the issues they care about and present their findings to the world. Tackling global challenges starts with understanding a problem and its wider context, rather than jumping straight into a business plan or an idea for a quick fix. Participants are asked to demonstrate a deep understanding of a pressing social or environmental issue by mapping out the landscape of the current solutions and identifying missing opportunities for positive change.

As part of their prize, Gururaj and Pople received some funding with which they aim to bridge the gap between research and action by taking this work further through fieldwork in December.

View ThinkStrong’s presentation below and check out the infographic they developed as part of their entry. Should you wish to contact ThinkStrong, please email Maggie Marx.