Dixon Chibanda MD

Dixon Chibanda, MD, is the founder of the Friendship Bench, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Zimbabwe and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Director of the African Mental Health Initiative (AMARI), and a founding member of the Coalition for Scaling Mental Health. Dixon started the Friendship Bench in one of Harare’s townships called Mbare in 2006 and conceptualized the first Friendship Bench which has now been refined and adapted in all the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe, and replicated in over 10 countries. He has been for over a decade a key player in bringing the various stakeholders from local health authorities, health professionals, national and international researchers, and donors together to form successful collaborations. In his role as PI on several research projects, he has led the Friendship Bench team through the rigorous exercise of randomized control trials (RCT) which have consistently showed evidence for the intervention’s effectiveness. The effectiveness of the Friendship Bench is highlighted in a seminal cluster randomized controlled trial published in JAMA. In addition, over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications of the program are accessible online. As a practising medical doctor, professor in psychiatry & global mental health, Dixon has explored the intersection of indigenous knowledge and western models of care to develop sustainable interventions in global health. His TED talk on why he trains grandmothers to treat depression describes the journey of the Friendship Bench.