Vandana Gopikumar, PhD, Co-Founder of The Banyan and The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health, will receive the 2018 Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health for her work in helping women with mental health problems in India. She co-founded both organizations with Vaishnavi Jayakumar. Gopikumar will receive the award – which comes with a $100,000 cash prize – during an event at the University of Pennsylvania on March 21, 2018.

“Dr. Gopikumar embodies the very essence of The Renfield Award, which is given to an individual who demonstrates leadership in improving women’s health,” said Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel, PhD, FAAN. “Over the past 25 years, she and her team have helped more than ten thousand people with mental health issues in India to reintegrate into society. Her devotion to helping this community is steadfast and tireless. We are happy to recognize her and The Banyan with this much-deserved award.”

“It is my honor to have nominated Dr. Gopikumar for the Renfield Award owing to her landmark contributions to the field of mental health and social vulnerabilities in India,” said Nachiket Mor, Director of the India Country Office of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “Her determination has been instrumental in The Banyan’s journey. It is because of her innovative spirit that new models of mental health care have been created, myths have been erased, and stigmas have been shattered.”

For more information: https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/live/news/1000-vandana-gopikumar-phd-to-re...