Women's Reproductive Mental Health in South Asia

Dr. Prerna Kukreti is currently working as Professor of Psychiatry at Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), New Delhi. She heads the women Mental Health Clinic and Perinatal Mental Health Unit at LHMC.  She did her MBBS, MD Psychiatry from Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi and WHO International diploma in mental health law and human rights from Indian Law Society, Pune. She is one of the the lead investigator of the team developing the stepped care model, BIND-P (Brief Intervention for Depression in Pregnancy), for screening, providing brief intervention and referral for depression in perinatal period. She was convenor of Perinatal Psychiatry section of Indian Psychiatry Society (2023-24) and organises several workshops for nursing professionals, paediatricians, obstetricians, psychiatrists, mothers with high risk pregnancies for identification of maternal mental health conditions. She is Joint editor of Journal of Advanced Research in Psychology & Psychotherapy. She is reviewer of various national and international journals. She has authored Book on ‘’Forensic Psychiatry: Indian Perspective’’, 16 book chapters and 37 articles in in various national & international journals and made 50 presentations at various national and international conferences. Her research interests include women mental ehalth, perinatal psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, community mental health and neuropsychiatry.

Dr. Sujita Kumar Kar is currently working as an Additional Professor of Psychiatry at King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. He is the editor-in-chief of Indian Journal of Health, Sexuality and Culture. 

He is also the editorial board member and reviewer of various national and international journals. He had written 62 book chapters and more than 450 articles in various national & international journals and made 70 presentations at various national and international conferences. He has been included in the global 2% researcher list released by Stanford University in 2021, 2022 and 2023. His research interests include brain stimulation, neuropsychiatry, and suicide prevention.

Dr. S M Yasir Arafat is currently working as an Associate Consultant of Psychiatry at Bangladesh Specialized Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is affiliated with Dnet as an honorary Research Fellow and Biomedical Research Foundation, Bangladesh as Senior Research Fellow. He was affiliated with the University of Bristol, UK as Visiting Senior Research Associate, (August 2021-2023). He completed MD in Psychiatry from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka and MBBS from the Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He also did an MPH in Health Economics and MBA in Marketing. Dr. Arafat has (co)authored more than 350 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and (co)edited several books with Springer. He has been included in the global 2% researcher list in 2021, 2022, and 2023. He is acting as editorial member in more than 10 leading journals in mental health published by Elsevier, Wiley, Springer, and Taylor and Francis. His research focused on mental health, suicidal behavior, psychometrics, panic buying, and psycho-sexual disorders.