Sireesha Bobbili is a Program Officer with Grand Challenges Canada’s Global Mental Health program. She plays a lead role in expanding this portfolio by supporting rights-based, culturally appropriate mental health interventions developed by and for innovators from low- and middle-income countries.

As a global health researcher, Sireesha has extensive experience working alongside international partners to build capacity in mental health, address social determinants, develop public health policy, and reduce violence against women.

Prior to joining GCC, Sireesha spent eight years at the Institute of Mental Health Policy Research with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health where she strengthened mental health systems on a global scale. With grants from GCC, CIHR, and other funders, she supported various projects including a collaboration with the World Health Organization and Indian Law Society to strengthen human rights and quality care in mental health institutions in India as well as the design and development of a mobile assessment and consultation app for traditional healers in Tanzania to screen patients for psychosis. Most notably, Sireesha co-developed an intervention to reduce stigma towards mental illness and substance use among primary health care providers in Canada, which has been culturally adapted and scaled-up to facilities in Chile, Peru, and Brazil.

More recently, Sireesha consulted for a UN Women-led national research study exploring violence against women and girls in Guyana. As a result, her PhD dissertation focuses on gender-based violence policy implementation in Guyana which she is finalizing at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She holds a Master of Public Health also from the University of Toronto.