Vikram Harshad Patel FMedSci[2] (born 5 May 1964) is an Indian psychiatrist and researcher best known for his work on child development and mental disability in low-resource settings.

Joint Director of the Centre for Chronic Conditions and Injuries at the Public Health Foundation of India located in New Delhi.

[citation needed] In 2007, he played a role in setting up the new Movement for Global Mental Health, a global coalition of professionals and civilian volunteers working together to assist those affected by mental illness, by helping to promote as editor the 2011 Lancet series’ Call to Action.

In 2012, he played an integral role in the establishment of Sangath’s Masters in Global Mental Health program, which is jointly run with the Institute of Psychiatry, London.

[13] Aside from academic teaching, he has given over a dozen auditorium speeches, including a global conference in 2012 in association with TED.

In wealthy nations, just half receive appropriate care, but in developing countries, close to 90 percent go untreated because psychiatrists are in such short supply.

Vikram Patel outlines a highly promising approach — training members of communities to give mental health interventions, empowering ordinary people to care for others.

[9][10] The main focus of his research has been on epidemiology and the sociocultural determinants and treatment of mental disorders in impoverished regions of India and other resource poor settings.