Professor Nimisha Patel

Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of East London, UK

Nimisha Patel is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Founder and Executive Director of the International Centre for Health and Human Rights, a UK-based NGO, and Professor of Clinical Psychology on the Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of East London, UK.

At the University, where she has worked for 21 years, her role is to train clinical psychologists to work in the British national health system. She has extensive clinical experience providing rehabilitation, including psychological therapies and community-based psychological interventions for survivors of torture, gender-based violence and other gross human rights violations in the context of war.  She has worked in human rights NGOs, the British national health service and internationally in many countries for many agencies, including as a consultant to several United Nations bodies. Her work has focused on developing a human rights approach for health professionals, including in therapeutic work, rehabilitation service design and development, monitoring and evaluation; conducting legal and psychological research; developing indicators for legal standards on the right to rehabilitation as a form of reparation to ensure State accountability; contributing to the development of international legal policy; developing prevention activities to address human rights; and strategic litigation in domestic and international human rights courts to ensure rehabilitation as a form of reparation and justice for survivors of torture.

In 2011, the British Psychological Society presented her with the prestigious Award for Distinguished Contributions to Professional Psychology. She has several other awards in the UK for her academic work.