The Second Cohort of Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Global Center Clinical Fellows From Mozambique Arrives in Brazil for Child Mental Health Training

Mozambican Fellows Begin Yearlong Training Through the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Global Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP)

Porto Alegre, Brazil — The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Global Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at the Child Mind Institute and the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) are proud to welcome the second cohort of clinical fellows from Mozambique for advanced training in child and adolescent mental health in Brazil.

The new cohort — psychiatrist Anibal Anube, MD; psychologist Paulino Feliciano; and occupational therapist Florentino Costume — arrived in Porto Alegre in March 2025. The fellows will spend the next year training at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) under the supervision of leading clinicians before returning to Nampula in northern Mozambique for an additional year of training and preparation as a multidisciplinary team to strengthen child and adolescent mental health services in the public sector.

At the same time, the first cohort of fellows — psychiatrist Carmen Rungo, MD; psychologist Cristina Lopes; and occupational therapist Custodia dos Anjos, occupational therapist — are returning to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, to begin their second fellowship year. There, they will continue their training in clinical service delivery, working collaboratively as a team to support children, adolescents, and families in the public health system.

In March, representatives from the SNF Global Center traveled to Porto Alegre to meet with all six fellows, tour the training facilities, and strengthen collaboration with IACAPAP and local partners. The team also visited the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, the site of clinical training, and held coordination meetings with IACAPAP leadership.

“Collaborating to develop child and adolescent mental health services and expertise in underserved regions is core to IACAPAP’s mission,” said Luis Rohde, MD, PhD, president of IACAPAP. “We could not be happier with the initial results of this initiative. We are confident that this remarkable group of fellows will make a meaningful difference in Mozambique and that the program will serve as a strong model for the region.”

“It is a pleasure to welcome the second group of the program here at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre,” said Virginia de Oliveira Rosa, MD, PhD who oversees the fellows’ training at HCPA. “We are deeply motivated by this program, and our goal is to ensure that the care the fellows provide upon returning home is both effective and culturally relevant.”

The fellowship is part of a larger initiative by the SNF Global Center to train mental health professionals from low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on building national capacity through long-term mentorship and training. The program was designed in collaboration with the Mozambique Ministry of Health, which is deeply invested in expanding access to care for children and adolescents.

“I greatly appreciate the way in which the Mozambican fellows have been — and continue to be — integrated into this clinical fellowship program,” said Lídia Gouveia, MD, PhD, of the Mozambique Ministry of Health. “The commitment of the teams at CAPSi (the Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center) and HCPA to meet the specific needs of each fellow, while also taking into account the challenges they will face in Mozambique, is truly remarkable.”

“I am honored to be part of this program, and proud that Mozambique was selected by the SNF Global Center and IACAPAP to launch it,” said Helena Daniel, MD, PhD, the fellowship coordinator in Mozambique and the country’s first child psychiatrist. “Thanks to this initiative, Mozambique now has two child psychiatrists and a dedicated team — including a psychologist and an occupational therapist — focused on child mental health. The partnership with Brazil and HCPA strengthens our training, broadens our perspectives, and advances mental health care in Mozambique. Investing in childhood is investing in the future — it transforms lives and lays the foundation for healthier generations.”

Dr. Daniel, who trained at HCPA with Dr. Rohde, now mentors all the fellows, including Dr. Rungo, Mozambique’s second child psychiatrist, and Dr. Anube, who will become the third. Together, this growing group of experts is laying the foundation for a national child and adolescent mental health infrastructure in Mozambique.

This innovative partnership between the SNF Global Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and IACAPAP reflects a shared commitment to expanding global access to high-quality mental health care for young people. By investing in the training of generalist clinicians in low- and middle-income countries, the program addresses urgent workforce gaps while fostering international collaboration and knowledge exchange. The fellowship model represents a scalable approach that can serve as a blueprint for similar initiatives around the world — offering a powerful example of how local leadership, institutional partnerships, and long-term investment can help build sustainable systems of care for children and adolescents.

To learn more about the fellowship and the SNF Global Center’s work, visit childmind.org/global.

This work is conducted by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Global Center at the Child Mind Institute with founding support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as part of its Global Health Initiative (GHI).

About the SNF Global Center at the Child Mind Institute

The SNF Global Center brings together the Child Mind Institute’s expertise as a leading independent nonprofit in children’s mental health and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s (SNF) deep commitment to supporting collaborative projects to improve access to quality health care worldwide. The center is building partnerships to drive advances in under-researched areas of children’s and adolescents’ mental health and expand access to culturally appropriate trainings, resources, and treatment in low- and middle-income countries. This work is conducted by the Child Mind Institute with support from SNF through its Global Health Initiative (GHI).

About the Child Mind Institute

We are the leading independent nonprofit in children’s mental health providing gold-standard, evidence-based care, delivering educational resources to millions of families each year, training educators in underserved communities, and developing open science initiatives and tomorrow’s breakthrough treatments.

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