Tata Institute of Social Sciences professor Dr. Vandana Gopikumar receives the 2018 GP-BUFI Seed Fund

Boston University Global Programs & Boston University Foundation-India are pleased to announce that our spring 2018 seed fund has been awarded to Dr. David Henderson, Chair of Psychiatry at BU School of Medicine, for his research proposal titled “Capacity-building in mental health research on serious mental illness in Tamil Nadu, India and Boston, MA”. Dr. Henderson will be working with Dr. Vandana Gopikumar of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) School of Social Work in India on this project, the goals of which are to increase the research capacity of the BUSM Department of Psychiatry and TISS by promoting a broad program of institutional exchanges and to conduct a joint research study on pathways to homelessness among individuals with serious mental illness in both India and Boston. The proposed project will inform the design and development of a model of care that can be scaled up to a health systems level to ensure more effective and accessible mental health care to vulnerable patient populations in India and the U.S.

We wish to thank everyone who submitted a proposal for this round of funding. We hope that you will consider applying for new BU Global Programs & BU Foundation-India funding opportunities in the future.

About the Award

The BU Global Programs-BUFI Seed Fund Program is designed to seed new or support existing collaborative research projects in India conducted by BU faculty and their peers in India. The research project may be in any discipline, but must directly benefit India. Review criteria for the seed fund included:

  • Clearly articulated potential for measurable positive impact on India and leads to improved quality of life for its people;
  • Likelihood that the project will lead to subsequent external funding;
  • Well defined and achievable project scope, activities, and goals.