I am Dr Ahmed Waqas, a clinical academic psychiatrist and public mental health researcher committed to advancing equitable, scalable psychological care. I currently serve as a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Liverpool and work clinically within Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, integrating frontline psychiatric practice with internationally collaborative research.

My work is driven by a central question: how can we deliver high-quality psychological care to populations who are least likely to receive it? Across my career, I have focused on developing and evaluating pragmatic solutions that bridge the persistent gap between evidence-based mental health interventions and real-world access, particularly in underserved and low-resource settings.

Research Focus and Contributions

My research programme sits at the intersection of clinical psychiatry, public mental health, and implementation science, and is increasingly oriented toward precision mental health. A central aim of my work is to unpack the “black box” of CBT-based psychosocial interventions—to understand not only whether these interventions work, but how they work, for whom, and under what conditions.

I work across four interlinked domains:

1. Mechanisms and mediation of psychosocial interventions
2. Optimisation of CBT-based and task-shared treatments
3. Digital and peer-delivered models for scalable care
4. Evidence synthesis to inform policy and personalised care pathways

A major strand of my research centres on the WHO Thinking Healthy Programme and its technology-assisted adaptations, with a strong emphasis on maintaining intervention quality while scaling delivery through non-specialist and peer workforces. Increasingly, my work applies optimisation frameworks and causal inference approaches to identify active ingredients and synergistic treatment components.

Methodologically, my research spans clinical trials, causal mediation analysis, epidemiology, and advanced meta-analytic methods. I have contributed to international guideline development processes and continue to work closely with global partners to translate research into policy and practice.

Current Priorities

My current priorities focus on three strategic areas:

1. Advancing precision mental health by identifying what works, for whom, and why
2. Optimising scalable psychosocial interventions, particularly CBT-based and task-shared models
3. Closing the quality gap in digital and peer-delivered psychological care

Alongside my academic work, I undertake consultancy and collaborative advisory roles with academic, health system, and global mental health partners interested in scalable psychosocial interventions and digital mental health innovation.

Teaching, Supervision, and Collaboration

I am deeply committed to mentorship and capacity building. I supervise PhD, DClinPsy, and postgraduate students, contribute to postgraduate teaching, and work with multidisciplinary teams across the UK and internationally. I particularly welcome collaboration with researchers, clinicians, and organisations interested in precision mental health, scalable care, and perinatal mental health.

Contact

For research collaborations, doctoral enquiries, or consultancy opportunities, please contact:

📧 ahmed.waqas@liverpool.ac.uk