Who’s Who
Ishtar Govia
University of the West Indies, Jamaica
Dr Ishtar Govia, Lecturer in Epidemiology at the Caribbean Institute for Health Research, UWI Mona, is a research psychologist, specializing in mixed methods and implementation science. She is the Managing Director of the Jamaica Mental Health Advocacy Network and works with persons with dementia and their helping network. Her research interests include social determinants of health and evidence-based treatments for common mental disorders and dementia, especially holistic approaches using personalized and coordinated care and integrating mental health and/or dementia problems in the care of other non-communicable diseases in resource-constrained contexts. Central to her work is the cultivation of partnerships and capacity building for health research, interventions, and systems strengthening in the Caribbean.
Janelle Robinson
University of West Indies, Jamaica
Janelle Robinson is a researcher with the Jamaica team. Janelle’s work and interests revolve around understanding psychological trauma and the integration of culturally and conceptually valid assessment tools. Partially funded by the Pinkerton Graduate Fellowship, she completed Masters level training at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY –an MA in Forensic Psychology and another MA in Forensic Mental Health Counselling. In her work in New York, she contributed to the enhancement of youth justice agencies and worked closely with young persons and their families in the capacity of court advocate and youth mental health provider. She is committed to creating and implementing culturally valid trauma-focused assessments and interventions for Caribbean people and to mental health public education and awareness in Caribbean and other under-served populations. She is a researcher at the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR), UWI Mona, Jamaica, and within the Epidemiology Research Unit, she is a member of Mental Health Programme team.
Marissa Stubbs
University of West Indies, Jamaica
Marissa Stubbs is a researcher with the Jamaican team. Born and raised in the Bahamas, Marissa is a graduate of the M.Sc. Clinical Psychology programme at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica and works as a Researcher at the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR), UWI Mona, Jamaica. Working in the CAIHR Epidemiology Research Unit, she is a member of Mental Health Programme team. Her research interests include patterns of adult attachment, the importance of social connectedness for psychological well-being and how psycho-social factors affect an individual’s health. In her role as an Associate Clinical Psychologist at a private practice in Kingston, Jamaica she conducts psycho-educational and personality assessment, which align with her passionate commitment to the development of comprehensive interventions for persons with academic or behavioural challenges. Over the years, her active engagement in outreach and support activities have been channelled through her role as a Resident Hall advisor, giving talks to university students, parenting and youth groups, and appearing on local radio programmes.
Rochelle Amour
Alzheimer’s Jamaica, Jamaica
Rochelle Amour is the Researcher and NGO Liaison, and the co-founder of the Age Caribbean Consultancy. She has a BSc in Psychology (1st Class Honours), with a minor in Human Resource Management, and is certified in Project Management. She worked at the Division of Ageing in Trinidad before pursuing her MSc in Gerontology at King’s College London. While at King’s, she worked with Help Age International developing content for the 2014 Global Age Watch Index and collaborating on dementia research at the King’s Old Age Psychiatry Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience. Rochelle is also a registered nonfiction writer with the Culture Division in Trinidad and Tobago.