Speaker：Brian J. Hall, Ph.D., Professor of Global Public Health | Founding Director, Center for Global Health Equity, NYU Shanghai

Time： 14:00-16:00, December 15, 2025

Venue：Room 1113, Wangkezhen Building

Host：Professor Yiqun Gan

Abstract

The health and wellbeing of migrant and mobile populations is a pressing global public health concern. Yet their mental health and wellbeing remain poorly understood and insufficiently addressed within existing systems of care. Drawing on more than ten years of mixed-methods and implementation research across the Western Pacific Region, I examine how mobility, inequality, and technology intersect to shape global mental health outcomes and opportunities for intervention.

I present findings from community-engaged studies with transnational Filipino domestic workers and international migrants in China, which reveal how discrimination, legal precarity, and fragmented health systems erode wellbeing, while social networks and collective forms of care foster resilience. These insights, derived from the PRIDE Study and related projects, inform a broader agenda aimed at reducing health disparities through scalable, culturally grounded interventions.

Through my collaboration with the World Health Organization, I have contributed to the ICD-11 Cultural Formulation, the Step-by-Step digital mental health program, and the WHO Regional Framework for Mental Health in the Western Pacific. As the academic lead for the Migration, Displacement, and Climate Change Research Agenda Setting for the Western Pacific Region, I helped define regional priorities for research, policy, and capacity building on migrant health.

Together, these projects demonstrate how digital innovation, participatory research, and global collaboration can transform mental health systems and advance equity. This talk will highlight how we can bridge psychology, anthropology, public health, and implementation science to advance a new model of global mental health—one that centers lived experience, co-creation, and the ethical use of technology to promote health equity in an era of unprecedented mobility.

Bio

Brian J. Hall, Ph.D., is a tenured Full Professor of Global Public Health and the Founding Director of the Center for Global Health Equity at NYU Shanghai. He also serves as Affiliated Professor in the Department of Global and Environmental Health at NYU’s School of Global Public Health; Associated Faculty in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Visiting Professor at the Shanghai Mental Health Center, Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; and Adjunct Professor at the Sun Yat-sen University School of Public Health.

Trained as a clinical psychologist and psychiatric epidemiologist, Prof. Hall completed NIMH T32 Fellowships in Traumatic Stress (Medical University of South Carolina) and Psychiatric Epidemiology (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health). As a Fogarty Global Health Fellow (UMJT/LAUNCH Consortium), he began long-term fieldwork in China examining migration, mental health, and health equity—work that continues to define his career.

Based in China for over a decade, Prof. Hall leads pioneering research and consultations for policy on migration, displacement, and digital mental health across Asia and the Western Pacific Region. His studies with migrant, transnational, and displaced populations have illuminated how social and structural determinants shape wellbeing and access to care. Prof. Hall served as the inaugural Global Mental Health Fellow at the World Health Organization, where he co-developed the ICD-11 Cultural Formulation for Mental and Neurological Disorders and helped launch Step-by-Step, the WHO’s scalable digital mental health program. He continues to advise WHO as a technical expert on digital mental health and serves as the academic lead for the Migration, Displacement, and Climate Change Research Agenda for the Western Pacific Region. An author of more than 360 publications, he is a Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate, 2022–2025). Prof Hall is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and inductee into Delta Omega Honorary Society for Public Health He received seven major career awards, including the Chaim and Bela Danieli Young Professional Award (ISTSS), the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest, and a Faculty Excellence in Advising Award from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prof. Hall is Editor-in-Chief of Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. His career reflects a sustained commitment to bridging science, policy, and community collaboration to advance global mental health equity.

2025-12-01