Dristy Gurung is working as a Research Associate for the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Mental Health Implementation Network (MHIN).

Dristy is also the co-investigator and project manager for the NIH-funded R01 project- Reducing Stigma among Healthcare Providers to Improve Mental Health Services (RESHAPE) at a non-profit organisation called Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Nepal. Prior to these roles, she was the site and work package lead for the International Study of Discrimination And Stigma Outcomes (INDIGO), funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) (2019-2024).

She did her MSc in Global Mental Health from King’s College London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and is a part-time PhD candidate at King’s College London with a focus on developing a measurement framework for mental health-related structural stigma in low and middle-income countries that looks at what matters most to people with lived experiences, stigma researchers, and policymakers.

She recently worked as a commissioner on the “Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health”, and chaired the launch event of the commission report, which was hosted by the World Health Organization. Her work not only focuses on promoting inclusivity within mental health systems but also in other areas of global health, such as addressing the geographical and gender disparities or gaps within the health and research workforce.

For her contributions and work as an early-career researcher, she was awarded the Visionary Innovators Shaping Tomorrow’s Advancements (VISTA) award by the National Institute of Mental Health, USA, during the NIMH Global Mental Health conference in October 2023. 

Research interests

• Health inequities
• Stigma
• Health systems research in global health
• Implementation science
• Service user engagement and co-production

Teaching

Theory to practice module (Global Mental Health MSc)

Expertise and public engagement

• Scientific Advisory Board of EU-funded project ADVANCE
• Centre for Global Mental Health (CGMH) Advisory Board
• Expert Advisory Group of Wellcome Trust funded Common Definitions project
• Member of the Women in Global Mental Health (WiGMH) steering group