Dr Sharli Anne Paphitis is a Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, specialising in qualitative research, global mental health, and social justice research. With over a decade of experience, she has led complex interdisciplinary research funded by UKRI, AHRC, MRC, and NIHR, addressing critical challenges in violence, abuse, and mental health worldwide.

A recognised expert in qualitative and participatory research methodologies, Dr Paphitis has developed and implemented innovative approaches to intervention development in global mental health research, including through leveraging realist reviews and storytelling.

As the co-director of the Violence Abuse and Mental Health Network, and as Principal Investigator on major projects such as the Modern Slavery Core Outcome Set and the South African arm of the SHAER project, she has made significant contributions to trauma recovery research for survivors of violence and gender-based abuse.

Dr Paphitis’s global health expertise extends through her work with the NIHR Global Health Research Group to improve the mental health of violence survivors in South East Asia and assessing psychosocial interventions for violent extremism in Nigeria. Her work is deeply rooted in co-production with NGOs, survivor groups, and community stakeholders, ensuring research outcomes are both practical and transformative.

With over a decade of teaching experience at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, Dr Paphitis has designed and delivered modules on qualitative research methods, global health ethics, and social psychology. She is a committed mentor, supporting early-career researchers and first-generation academics to promote equity and inclusion in academia.

Dr Paphitis holds a PhD in Philosophy from Rhodes University and has published widely in leading journals on topics such as epistemic justice, mental health interventions, and participatory research. Her career is defined by a passion for addressing global health inequalities through interdisciplinary and socially responsive approaches.

Research Interests

• Human Agency, Vulnerability, Epistemic Justice
• Domestic Violence, Menstruation, Human Trafficking, Forced Displacement, Violence Against Women, Violent Extremism, and Xenophobia
• Community-based and participatory research methods

Teaching

Sharli currently leads the BSc in Psychology 3 Women’s Mental Health Module.

Expertise and Public Engagement

• Associate Researcher at Rhodes University, South Africa
• Guest Lecturer at the Institute for Biomedical and Medical Education, St George’s University, London

Key publications

Selected Recent publications:

1. Paphitis, S., Bezerra, J., Paterson, C. (Eds.) 2021. Challenging the Apartheids of Knowledge in Higher Education through Social Innovation. South Africa: Sun Press. eISBN: 9781991201058
2. Kasonde, M., Senyurek, G., Ulman, Y., Minckas, N., Hughes, P., Paphitis, S., Andrabi, S., Salem, B., Ahmad, L., Ahmad, A., Mannell, J. 2021. “My story is like a magic wand”: A qualitative study of personal storytelling and activism to stop violence against women in Turkey", Global Health Action 14:1, 1927331, DOI:10.1080/16549716.2021.1927331
3. Bezerra, J and Paphitis, S. 2021. ‘Epistemic Injustice and Land Restitution in the case of Protected Areas: From Policy to Practice’, Society and Natural Resources 33.
4. Paphitis, S. 2020. ‘The possibility of addressing epistemic injustice through engaged research practice’, in Reynolds, L. and Sariola, S. (Eds.) The Ethics and Politics of Community Engagement in Global Health Research. ISBN: 978-0-367-43777-0.
5. Paphitis, S.A. and Kelland, L. 2018. ‘In the Red: Between Research, Activism and Community Development in a menstruation public health intervention’, in C. Macleod, J. Marx, P. Mnyaka and G. Treharne (Ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of Ethics in Critical Research. United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
6. Srinivas, S. and Paphitis, S.A. 2018. ‘Service-Learning Research Projects to Enhance the Medicines Information Accompanying Commonly Dispensed Medicines on the Phelophepa Health Care Trains’ in Cecilia Vindrola-Padros, Anne E. Pfister, and Ginger A. Johnson (Eds.) Healthcare in motion: Mobility forms in health service delivery and access. USA: Berghahn Books.
7. Kelland, L., Paphitis, S. and Macleod, C. 2017. ‘A contemporary phenomenology of menstruation: Understanding the body in situation and as situation in public health interventions to address menstruation-related challenges’ Women's Studies International Forum 63: 33-41.
8. S. 2017. ‘The possibility of addressing epistemic injustice through engaged research practice: Reflections on a menstruation related critical health project’ Critical Public Health. 10.1080/09581596.2017.1418500
9. Paphitis, S.A. and Kelland, L. 2016. ‘The University as a Site for Transformation’ Education as Change 20(2): 184-203.