The Scan

Mental health is receiving increasing attention in India, but millions still face barriers to care. Professor Pallab Maulik joins host Dr Deepika Saluja to discuss the state of mental health in India, highlighting the challenges of stigma, limited access to care and workforce shortages. Drawing on research across rural, urban, tribal and transgender communities, Professor Pallab shares insights about what works, from community-led awareness campaigns and primary care integration to the meaningful involvement of people with lived experience in shaping research, services and policy and how communities, health systems and policymakers can work together to improve mental health outcomes.

For more information about The George Institute for Global Health’s mental health research projects visit.

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In this episode, Professor Amanda Henry speaks with Georgia White and Jan Shanthosh to from The George Institute for Global Health about the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the ongoing global effort to advance women's rights.

Together, they reflect on the progress made over the past 30 years in areas including education, health, gender equality and protection from violence, while also discussing the challenges that remain.

The conversation explores the role of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in holding governments accountable and highlights innovative work underway at The George Institute, including the use of technology and AI to track progress on women's rights globally.

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In this episode, Yakubu speaks with Dr Wale Salami about transforming clinical trials to better serve African communities. Together, they unpack the persistent gaps between how trials are designed and the diverse genetic, cultural, and social realities across the continent.

Dr Salami shares why meaningful change requires intentional involvement of African scientists and communities from the earliest stages of research—not just at implementation. He highlights the importance of local leadership, sustained capacity building, and stronger government support to ensure clinical trials are relevant, trusted, and impactful.

This conversation is a powerful call to action to rethink how clinical research is designed and led, with equity, ownership, and context at its core.

About the series, ‘Ubuntu Reflections: Unpacking the everyday dynamics of building equitable partnerships’

Equitable research partnerships are central to advancing academic global health, particularly to break the power hierarchies, strengthening local capacities and engaging communities in a meaningful manner. However, very little is known about the practical experiences and challenges of navigating and implementing the recommendations provided in the literature (in the form of dos and don’ts) in everyday engagement towards building and strengthening global health partnerships. 

In this series, we attempt to extend the conversation through discussing practical experiences, examples and learnings from experts based in different regions, and unpack these less talked about layers of building equitable partnerships on an everyday basis, what does it entail, the challenges encountered, and tools used to navigate these challenges. 

This series builds on our existing work at the Ubuntu Initiative

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This bitesize episode features Dr Elisa Pineda, a researcher working at the forefront of nutrition and chronic disease prevention. Elisa shares new insights into how simple dietary changes—like swapping regular salt for potassium‑enriched salt—could significantly reduce high blood pressure and the risk of heart disease. She discusses why this work matters, what communities are telling researchers, and how governments and the food industry can help make healthier choices easier and more accessible for everyone.

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This bitesize episode features Gabriela Cipriano Flores, a public health researcher exploring how extreme heat affects pregnant women in India. Gabby shares the story behind the Heat in Pregnancy study, the groundbreaking cohort research underway across three climate‑diverse regions, and what the team hopes to uncover about heat exposure, pregnancy outcomes and future policy implications. She also reflects on her journey as part of the Emerging Thought Leaders program, and how translating evidence into meaningful, real‑world impact drives her work.

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In this episode of The Scan, we speak with Registered Nurse and Associate Project Manager Clare Goodson and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Professor Andrew Metcalfe about the METEOR2 Study—a major international clinical trial investigating the most effective treatment for people experiencing persistent knee pain after a meniscectomy.

The study compares two evidence‑based options: Personalised Knee Therapy and Meniscal Allograft Transplant Surgery, aiming to determine which approach provides the best clinical and cost‑effective outcomes for patients without arthritis who continue to struggle with knee pain or functional loss.

If you’re a potential participant or a clinician interested in referring patients, you can contact the research team at [email protected].

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In this episode, host Sarah Iqbal explores the role of stories in global health research through the context of work of the NIHR Global Health Research Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases and Environmental Change. While data and numbers can show us what is happening, they don’t always reveal why. That’s where qualitative research comes in—helping us listen deeply, understand context, and capture the complexity of people’s lives.

Sarah is joined by Dr. Chris Mary Kurian, a seasoned qualitative researcher with two decades of experience studying how communities experience health, illness, and care. Together, they discuss the power of words and lived experience, the challenges of balancing qualitative and quantitative insights, and why spending time in communities is essential for meaningful research.

From fevers and folk remedies to the future of interdisciplinary public health, this conversation is a reminder that the voices of people themselves are not just data points—they are knowledge makers.

NIHR Global Health Research Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases and Environmental Change is funded by the NIHR-Global Health Research Centre award scheme (NIHR203247) using UK international development funding from the UK Government to support global health research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK government.

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In this episode, Dr Deepika Saluja speak with Dr Kefilath Bello about how impactful research and research partnership requires an intentional sense-making process that connects and respects diverse cultural contexts. Kefi highlights through examples, that the willingness to engage with communities has to be accompanied with dedicated resources including time, budget, facilitation skills; to go beyond the tokenistic approach, that helps build trust and long-term relationships with community members and understand their contexts better. 

Dr Kefilath Bello is the Head, Health Policy and Systems Department, Centre for Research in Human Reproduction and Demography (CERRHUD) in Benin, West Africa. She is completing her PhD from the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Antwerp and the KU Leuven in Belgium. Her work focuses on promoting evidence-informed decision-making for improving access and quality of Primary Health Care services

We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast, if you do, please share your reflections and thoughts on LinkedIn and your other networks. 

If you have any feedback or ideas for us to include in the future episodes, please write to [email protected] 

About the series, ‘Ubuntu Reflections: Unpacking the everyday dynamics of building equitable partnerships’

Equitable research partnerships are central to advancing academic global health, particularly to break the power hierarchies, strengthening local capacities and engaging communities in a meaningful manner. However, very little is known about the practical experiences and challenges of navigating and implementing the recommendations provided in the literature (in the form of dos and don’ts) in everyday engagement towards building and strengthening global health partnerships. 

In this series, we attempt to extend the conversation through discussing practical experiences, examples and learnings from experts based in different regions, and unpack these less talked about layers of building equitable partnerships on an everyday basis, what does it entail, the challenges encountered, and tools used to navigate these challenges. 

This series builds on our existing work at the Ubuntu Initiative

Related item ‘Why does embracing Ubuntu matter for authentic research partnerships?’ 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Dr Kenneth Yakubu speaks with Dr Seye Abimbola to explore the everyday dynamics of building an equitable research partnership in Africa. Seye outlines different characteristics of research partnerships, and unpack the practical challenges around being a champion, along with the language and labelling that embodies it, especially in the context of partnership building in the African region.  

Dr Seye Abimbola is a health systems researcher from Nigeria. He is currently based at the University of Sydney in Australia, where his teaching and research focus on knowledge practices in global health, health system governance, and the adoption and scale up of health system innovations. He served as the inaugural editor in Chief of BMJ GH for nine years, significantly shaping the discourse of global health and the journal. 

We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast, if you do, please share your reflections and thoughts on LinkedIn and your other networks. 

If you have any feedback or ideas for us to include in the future episodes, please write to [email protected] 

About the series, ‘Ubuntu Reflections: Unpacking the everyday dynamics of building equitable partnerships’

Equitable research partnerships are central to advancing academic global health, particularly to break the power hierarchies, strengthening local capacities and engaging communities in a meaningful manner. However, very little is known about the practical experiences and challenges of navigating and implementing the recommendations provided in the literature (in the form of dos and don’ts) in everyday engagement towards building and strengthening global health partnerships. 

In this series, we attempt to extend the conversation through discussing practical experiences, examples and learnings from experts based in different regions, and unpack these less talked about layers of building equitable partnerships on an everyday basis, what does it entail, the challenges encountered, and tools used to navigate these challenges. 

This series builds on our existing work at the Ubuntu Initiative.

Related item ‘Why does embracing Ubuntu matter for authentic research partnerships?’ 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Series: Beyond the Body: Women’s wellbeing- science, equity & impact

In this powerful episode, host Professor Amanda Henry is joined by co-host Associate Professor Mehera San Roque and guest Associate Professor Ann Kayis-Kumar to explore how economic abuse — a form of coercive control — plays out in Australia's tax system. Drawing on research and frontline legal experience, they reveal how tax debts are weaponised against victim-survivors, the urgent need for law reform, and the growing national advocacy to fix these hidden injustices. A must-listen conversation on financial abuse, policy change, and the intersections of gender, money and power.

To learn more visit

UNSW tax clinic
How to prevent weaponisation of the tax system
Host: Professor Amanda Henry Program Head, Women’s Health, Australia
Co-host: Associate Professor Mehera San Roque
Guest: Associate Professor Ann Kayis-Kumar
The George Institute’s Global Women’s Health Program

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