Murali Krishna
Consultant
After obtaining his MBBS from Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI), Dr Murali Krishna completed his basic and higher specialist clinical training in mental health in the UK (2000-06). He held the Consultant Geriatric Psychiatrist post at North Wales in the NHS UK (2006-2010) during which he obtained a Master in Health and Social Care Research from the University of Sheffield UK. He returned to India to study the early life origins of healthy aging in the Mysore Birth Records Cohort. These studies earned him a PhD from the Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton UK (2019).
Dr Murali Krishna has great interest in development, cultural adaptation and validation of research instruments for conducting epidemiological studies and evaluation of appropriateness of mental health outcome measures in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). As an epidemiologist, he has explored lifecourse determinants of mental health across several cohort studies like the MYNAH (Mysore Studies of Natal Effect on Aging and Health), MUDHRA (Mysuru Studies of Determinants of Health among Rural Adults), and cVEDA (Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions) and VBC (Vellore Birth Cohort). Findings from these longitudinal studied have translated into an evidence based integrated intervention (Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative- HeLTI) delivered to women preconceptionally to reduce non-communicable disease risk and improve neurodevelopment in their children. He has successfully collaborated with leading scientists across disciplines and this has resulted in enriched cohorts with genetic, molecular and environmental data, which are unique to LMICs. As a constituent member of the COSMIC (Cohort of Studies of Memory in an International Consortium), he has contributed to ‘big data’ that has provided with opportunities for transcultural and global comparisons related to healthy aging in India.
Dr Murali Krishna has an additional research interest to explore how natural and built environment influences cognitive ageing. He works with a transdisciplinary network of researchers and developed novel methods for measuring environmental attributes like green and blue spaces, air pollutants and noise levels in urban spaces in India, and their impact on brain health in later life. In addition, he has expertise in conducting implementation and health system research in mental health. He was the country lead for capacity building in self-harm research for India in the SASHI (South Asia Self-Harm Initiative) project and is currently the principal investigator of SAMASTH (Systems Approach for Management of self-harm by integrating Surveillance with mental health Training in General Hospitals in South India) a suicide prevention imitative funded by DBT India Alliance.