Nagendra Luite, MA, MPhil, PhD
Research Advisor
Kathmandu
Nagendra Luite, MA, MPhil, PhD
Dr. Nagendra Prasad Luitel is a global mental health researcher and implementation scientist with more than two decades of experience in mental health systems strengthening, community-based mental health care, and child and adolescent mental health in low- and middle-income countries. Based in Nepal, he has played a pivotal role in advancing evidence-based mental health services through research, policy engagement, capacity building, and program implementation. He currently serves as Research Advisor at the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Nepal and holds academic affiliations with George Washington University, University College London, and Karolinska Institutet.
Dr. Luitel earned his PhD from the University of Amsterdam, where his research focused on integrating mental health services into Nepal’s primary healthcare system. His work has consistently centered on improving access to quality mental health care, particularly for underserved populations, through innovative and sustainable approaches. His expertise spans mental health systems research, implementation science, epidemiology, intervention development and evaluation, health services research, cultural adaptation and validation of mental health measures and capacity strengthening. A major area of Dr. Luitel’s expertise is the cultural adaptation, translation, and validation of mental health assessment tools. He has led or contributed to the development and validation of numerous mental health measures for children, adolescents, and adults in Nepal, helping improve the quality and relevance of mental health research and service delivery.
Throughout his career, Dr. Luitel has successfully co-led and managed large international research programs funded by organizations including the Wellcome Trust, National Institutes of Health (NIH), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Medical Research Council (MRC), UNICEF, WHO, NIHR, USAID, and DFID. He has served as Principal Investigator, Country Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator, and Research Fellow on numerous multidisciplinary projects addressing depression, anxiety, adolescent mental health, perinatal mental health, psychosocial support in humanitarian settings, stigma reduction, digital mental health innovations, and poverty-related determinants of mental health.
Dr. Luitel is an internationally recognized scholar with an extensive publication record in leading journals including The Lancet Regional Health, World Psychiatry, JAMA Network Open, PLOS Medicine, British Journal of Psychiatry, BMC Psychiatry, and Global Mental Health. His research has contributed substantially to the global evidence base on implementation and scale-up of mental health interventions, task-sharing approaches, stigma reduction, community case detection, and adolescent mental health promotion. Beyond research, Dr. Luitel is deeply committed to mentorship and capacity development. He has supervised and mentored many doctoral, master’s, and early-career researchers. He actively collaborates with policymakers, practitioners, and international organizations to translate research into practice and strengthen mental health systems.