On Tuesday, 20th January, 2025, the Provost, Professor Temidayo Ogundiran FAS welcomed Professor Swaran Preet Singh, a Professor of Social and Community Psychiatry, University of Warwick, who paid him a courtesy visit to his office in the company of Professor Olayinka Omigbodun, the director of the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH) and 12th Provost of the College of Medicine.
Professor Singh was on a weeklong visit to the college in his capacity as the Overall Principal Investigator of two National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded projects domiciled at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, namely TRANSFORM (Transforming Access to Care for Serious Mental Disorders in Slums) and the Implementing Early Mental & Physical Health Detection & Support: Promoting a Whole-School Approach to Health & Well-being in Low Resource Settings branded as Supporting Healthy livIng and Nutrition in school-age AdolEscents (SHINE). Both research projects are domiciled at the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH), College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.
During the visit, Professor Omigbodun highlighted the strategic importance of CCAMH as a centre of excellence within the College, noting its growing portfolio of internationally funded research, its strong record of capacity building, and its role in translating evidence into policy and practice within Nigeria and comparable low- and middle-income settings. She emphasised that the TRANSFORM and SHINE projects exemplify the College’s commitment to interdisciplinary, community-embedded research that addresses real-world mental health challenges across the life course.
In his response, the Provost welcomed Professor Singh warmly and commended the depth and quality of collaboration between the College of Medicine and the University of Warwick. He stressed the significance of hosting NIHR-funded projects within the College, noting that such partnerships elevate the College’s global profile while strengthening local research ecosystems, postgraduate training, and service innovation. He also acknowledged the significance of grants to the College's operations and service delivery and encouraged greater commitment to sustaining such research collaborations.
In his remarks, Professor Singh expressed appreciation for the College’s leadership, describing the College, and by extension the Nigerian research and learning space, as an intellectually vibrant and professionally grounded place. He praised the institutional support provided by the College of Medicine and reflected on the rare combination of academic rigour, cultural sensitivity, and social relevance that characterises health research at Ibadan.
The Deputy Provost, Venerable Professor S. B. Olaleye, the College Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Odedele, the Medical Librarian, Dr Grace A. Ajuwon, and the Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Professor Oyeronke A. Odunola, speaking on behalf of the Executive Committee present: Professor T.A. Lawal - Dean, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Professor M.D. Dario - Dean, Faculty of Public Health, Professor B. Kolude - Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, Professor Taiwo R. Kotila - Dean, Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences, Professor Prisca O. Adejumo - Dean, Faculty of Nursing and Professor Ikeoluwapo O. Ajayi, Director, Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, also welcomed Professor Singh.
Those present from the CCAMH team included Co-Investigators from TRANSFORM and SHINE projects, Dr Obafemi Jegede, Dr Olayinka Egbokhare, and Dr Kofoworola Adediran, as well as TRANSFORM doctoral students Dr Tolulope Bella-Awusah and Mrs Adeola Afolayan.
Highlight of Professor Swaran Preet Singh’s Lectures…
During his visit, Professor Singh delivered three major academic engagements at the Paul Hendrickse Lecture Theatre, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, engaging medical students, residents, faculty members, CCAMH trainees, and researchers.
Tuesday Lectures
Theme 1: Psychiatry and Its New Discontents
In this lecture, Professor Singh addressed contemporary debates within psychiatry, challenging both the marginalisation of psychiatry as a discipline and overly reductionist biological models of mental illness. He situated psychiatric practice within a broader social, environmental, and ethical context, highlighting the role of urbanisation, migration, trauma, and inequality in shaping mental health outcomes. Delivered within the College setting, the lecture reinforced psychiatry’s relevance to public health, policy, and social development.
Theme 2: Early Psychosis and Early Intervention in Psychosis – Much Done, Much More to Do
Drawing on international evidence and the UK’s experience with Early Intervention in Psychosis services, Professor Singh demonstrated how reducing the duration of untreated psychosis leads to significantly improved long-term outcomes. He emphasised the importance of community-based, multidisciplinary care models and discussed how these lessons could be adapted to the Nigerian context. The lecture sparked active discussion among residents and faculty, underscoring the College’s role in translating global evidence into locally relevant practice.
Thursday, 22 January 2026
Theme: Is Psychiatry the Most Interesting Medical Speciality?
This interactive session brought together medical students, residents, and CCAMH trainees for a reflective exploration of psychiatry as both a medical discipline and a moral vocation. Professor Singh spoke candidly about his personal journey into psychiatry and framed the speciality as one that sits at the moral core of medicine, confronting questions of identity, responsibility, coercion, and personhood.
He challenged participants to consider whether they are drawn to “the big questions” about what it means to be human and whether they are comfortable working across medicine, humanities, ethics, and uncertainty. The session was widely described as intellectually stimulating and personally resonant.
Following the Thursday lecture, TRANSFORM Digital Stories of Care Pathways and Collaboration was also screened at the Paul Hendrickse Lecture Theatre, as well as research presentations from doctoral studentss affiliated with the TRANSFORM Project who presented their ongoing work.
Adeola Afolayan’s doctoral study, titled “Experiences, Wellbeing, and Needs of Children of Persons with Serious Mental Illness (CoPSMI) in Low- and Middle-Income Countries,” examines how children aged 15–24 are affected when a parent has a serious mental illness, particularly in slum communities in Ibadan. Using a two-stage methodology involving a global scoping review and a mixed-methods study, her findings highlight significant social, emotional, physical, and economic challenges faced by these children, as well as major gaps in policy and services. On the other hand, Dr Bella-Awusah’s doctoral study, “Mental Health, Resilience, and Help-Seeking of Youth Living in Urban Slums,” examines how slum environments shape youth mental health. Her multi-phase research documents high levels of depression and trauma, alongside resilience and reliance on informal support systems, and calls for integrated mental health approaches within slum-upgrading and youth development programmes.
The digital stories showcased the lived experiences of people with serious mental illness and illustrated collaboration between faith-based, traditional, and biomedical mental health providers. The screening is part of the TRANSFORM Project's knowledge translation strategy.
Below are the links to the lectures and digital stories on the College's YouTube page:
Lecture 1: Psychiatry and its New Discontents: Watch Here
Lecture 2: Early Psychosis and Early Intervention in Psychosis: Much Done, Much More to Do: Watch Here
Lecture 3: ‘'Is Psychiatry the Most Interesting Medical Speciality?’: Watch Here
Digital stories
First digital story: Watch Here
Second digital story: Watch Here
Third digital story: Watch Here
On More Visits, Field Engagements and Community-Centred Impact…
Other highlights of his time in Ibadan included a series of visits and field engagements, which further underlined the direct connection between Professor Swaran Preet Singh’s academic visit and the real-world delivery of the SHINE and TRANSFORM projects. He visited Ibadan Municipal Grammar School, Yemetu, which serves as the SHINE pilot school, and he engaged directly with students and school leaders on resilience, mental well-being, and practical health literacy. He later visited Holy Trinity Grammar School, another SHINE intervention site, where he observed students participate in a revision session on mental health, emotional well-being, and nutrition, and he toured the school’s Nutri Garden, where students showcased crops they had cultivated.
He also responded to an immediate school-level need that was clearly linked to student well-being and safe learning conditions. Following an inspection of the school’s contaminated water source at Ibadan Municipal Grammar School, he donated ₦756,300 to support the sinking of a new well to improve access to safe water for students and staff. He publicly acknowledged this contribution during his Thursday lecture at the College, in the presence of the College’s Executive Committee, and he framed it as a practical expression of how research partnerships can translate into tangible support for healthier school environments and stronger community trust in health and wellbeing programmes.
Professor Singh also visited the University of Ibadan to attend the concluding segment of the University Lecture Series, during which he engaged with members of the University’s senior leadership, including the Vice Chancellor, Professor K. O. Adebowale, FAS, mni. The 46th University of Ibadan Lecture Series, held in January 2026, featured Professor Osayawe Benjamin Ehigie of the Department of Psychology, who delivered a three-part lecture titled “The Paradox of Human Behaviour.”