United Kingdom
Professor Ahmed Hankir is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the School of Medicine, Cardiff University and Lead Psychiatrist at Private Therapy Clinic. He is based in London, UK, and provides psychiatric care virtually. His academic work focuses on global mental health, Muslim mental health, and pioneering and evaluating innovative interventions that reject mental-health-related stigma and Islamophobia. He has published widely in these areas and has co-edited five internationally recognised textbooks on religion and psychiatry (Springer), alongside senior members of the American Psychiatric Association. Professor Hankir has been consulted by the World Health Organization on mental health and human rights, and by the New Zealand Government regarding the psychological consequences of the Christchurch Mosque terrorist attacks. Clinically, Professor Hankir is an experienced Consultant Psychiatrist whose practice is grounded in a human-rights-based framework that prioritises dignity, equity, social justice, empowerment, and recovery. His approach is collaborative, holistic, and person-centred, integrating pharmacological treatment with lifestyle interventions, psychoeducation, evidence-based psychotherapeutic modalities, and rational prescribing and deprescribing where clinically appropriate. His clinical work is guided by lived experience, with a strong emphasis on partnership and recovery. He previously worked as a Psychiatry Registrar with Waikato District Health Board in New Zealand, served as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Western University, and worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist at London Health Sciences Centre in Canada. An internationally renowned public speaker, he serves as Public Engagement and Education Lead at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health and Human Rights. He is the founder of The Wounded Healer, an anti-stigma programme integrating psychiatry, lived experience, storytelling, and the performing arts, delivered to over 150,000 people across 25 countries and five continents. His work has been recognised with numerous honours, including the 2022 WHO Director-General Award for Global Health and the 2025 American Psychiatric Association Patient Advocacy Award. Professor Hankir is deeply committed to public engagement and education. He has a major digital presence, with over 423,000 followers on TikTok and a substantial following on Instagram, making him one of the most followed — and widely regarded as the most followed — UK psychiatrists on social media, alongside a strong professional presence on X.