About Our Project Leaders
Theddeus Iheanacho, MD (Chairman, Board of Trustees)
Dr. Iheanacho completed medical school in Nigeria and post graduate training in
Dublin, Ireland and United States. He is board certified in general adult psychiatry and
addiction psychiatry and has special interest in global and community mental health,
psychiatric education, and medication-assisted treatment for addiction disorders. He
leads projects in Nigeria that integrate mental health in community settings to increase
access to effective treatments for mental disorders. Dr Iheanacho is an Associate
Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Director of Global Mental Health
Programs at Yale.
Chinyere Aguocha, MBBS, FMCPsych (Secretary, Board of Trustees)
Dr. Aguocha received her medical training at the University of Nigeria. She is a
psychiatrist with special interest in women mental health, addiction disorders and
global mental health. She is a lecturer at the Department of Medicine Imo State
University, Owerri Imo state Nigeria and an Honorary Consultant psychiatrist at Imo
State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu, Imo State.
CCharles Dike, MD, MPH, FRCPsych (Member, Board of Trustees)
Dr. Dike completed medical school in Nigeria, postgraduate training in psychiatry in
England and Chicago (USA), and a forensic psychiatry fellowship at Yale University
School of Medicine (YSM). He also completed a Master of Public Health degree in
Chicago. Dr. Dike is board certified in general adult psychiatry and forensic psychiatry
by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is a Fellow of the Royal College
of Psychiatrists of England, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric
Association. Dr. Dike is Medical Director, Office of the Commissioner, Connecticut
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, an Associate Professor of
Psychiatry and Associate Program Director, Law and Psychiatry Fellowship Program at
Yale School of Medicine.
Emeka Nwefoh, MBBS, FWACP (Member, Board of Trustees)
Dr. Nwefoh is a Medical Doctor and Fellow of the West African College of Physicians,
faculty of Psychiatry with special interest in Public Mental Health. He works with health
professionals in resource poor countries to support the process of mental health
integration into general health care through training, retraining, supportive supervision
and mentoring of non-mental health professionals. In all, he ensures that health is
maintained and persons with mental illness and psychosocial disabilities receive the
highest quality of care. Dr Nwefoh also supports Nigerian, Cameroonian and Sierra
Leonean governments to develop mental health policies and implementation plans
that strengthen access to community-based care and protect persons with
psychosocial disability from human rights abuse.
Camillus Iheanacho B.Eng, M.Sc, MBA (Member, Board of Trustees)
Engr. Iheanacho graduated as a mechanical engineer in Nigeria and obtained multiple
Master’s degrees from the Dublin City University, Ireland. He has over 15years
Engineering & Management experiences in Nigeria, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
He is presently Director, Zenith Engineering and Development Services Limited,
Woking, UK. Engr. Iheanacho serves as Foundation Governor, Xavier Catholic Education
Trust Local Governing Committee for St. Hugh of Lincoln Catholic Primary School,
Surrey, England. He is committed to using technology to improve access to care and
social services in his local communities in England and Nigeria.
Trainees
Nichole Roxas, MD, MPH
Nichole Roxas is a fourth year Psychiatry Resident and aspiring physician activist devoted to promoting health equity. For her PGY-2 CASE Project, she had the privilege of participating in the Health Action for Psychiatric Problems in Nigeria including Epilepsy and Substances (HAPPINESS) Project, a sustainable global mental health initiative which increases mental health access via training primary care physicians, nurses, and community health workers in Imo State, Nigeria. Being able to be a part of this team during academic year 2019-2020 and contribute to the development of its standardized manual for adoption and scaling up was an honor made possible through the Global Mental Health Award Grant and she is so grateful for the opportunity. Key takeaways from stakeholders were to invest in building and nurturing relationships with people and building the capacity and skills of your team.
Frances Adachi, MD, MPH
Dr. Adachi graduated with a BA in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and later completed the MD-MPH program at Drexel University. She contributed to the HAPPINESS Project during her psychiatry residency at Yale. She has recently graduated from the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship at the University of Colorado. She plans to train in child and adult psychoanalysis, and currently works in private practice and in a school-based mental health program for un- and underinsured American and refugee youth in Denver, CO.
Daniel DeFrancisco, MD
Dr. DeFrancisco graduated with a BA in Public Health Studies at Johns Hopkins University and obtained his MD at Drexel University. He contributed to the HAPPINESS Project during this psychiatry residency at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York City, where he was also a participant in the Global Mental Health Residency Track. Afterward, he completed an addiction psychiatry fellowship at the University of Colorado, and is currently working in an outpatient detox clinic at the VA in Denver, CO.
Yvonne Uyanwune, MD, MPH
Yvonne Uyanwune is a psychiatry resident at Yale School of Medicine. She contributed to the HAPPINESS Project during her PGY2 research elective. Her role primarily involved gathering demographic and contact information of HAPPINESS-trained clinicians, creating a listserv and working collaboratively with web-designing company to create a geospatial user-and-mobile-friendly website that allows potential clients to find nearest clinicians based on their local-government area in Nigeria. Her interests include global mental health, psychotherapy, spirituality and mental health promotion. Her goals align towards providing culturally sensitive, equity-driven and evidence based mental health care both locally and internationally.