Dixon Chibanda is a psychiatrist , professor of psychiatry at the University of Zimbabwe , associate professor in global mental health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and director of the African Mental Health Research Initiative. He is known for his Friendship Bench project , a project for short psychological interventions by community health workers that was developed and implemented in Zimbabwe.

Dixon Chibanda started the Friendship Bench in one of Harare’s townships called Mbare in 2007 and conceptualized the first Friendship Bench intervention that has now been refined and adapted considerably.

He has been involved in mental health research for many years. Dixon is a key player in bringing the various stakeholders from local health authorities, health professionals, national and international researchers and donors together to form successful collaborations. In his role as PI, he has led the Friendship Bench team through the rigorous exercise of the randomized control trial (RCT) which was able to deliver evidence for the intervention’s effectiveness. He is currently leading the team as they scale-up the Friendship Bench to over 60 primary health care clinics in the country.