Mina Fazel

Mina Fazel is a British psychiatrist who is Professor and Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford. Her research considers the mental health of children and young people, and how to design effective mental health interventions.

Early life and education Fazel studied medicine and social anthropology at the University of Cambridge and completed her clinical training at the University of Oxford. She remained in Oxford for her specialist training in psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry.

Career and research While a National Institute for Health and Care Research postdoctoral researcher, Fazel developed a mental health toolbox for front-line workers to use in educational institutions. She is a consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry with the children's psychological medicine team at the Oxford Children's Hospital and a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, where in 2024 she was appointed Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Fazel researches methodologies for improving the mental health of children and young people, with emphases on mental health services in schools and on child refugees. She has researched the impact of multiple adversities on young people's mental health, and the causes of school exclusions. Her research group, Team Intervene, seek to identify barriers to youth access to mental health support and to develop and deliver effective interventions. She has explored the epidemiology of mental health challenges in refugee children and the psychological impacts of immigration detention. She has investigated narrative exposure therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in refugee children.

MindKind, a Wellcome Trust programme led by Fazel, advocated for the creation of a global mental health databank.

Selected publications