Vincent Sezibera, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) and Director of the Centre for Mental Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda. He is also the Founding President of the Rwanda Psychological Society (RPS), a professional organization of psychologists in Rwanda. Prof. Sezibera received his doctorate in Psychology from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. He specializes in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Child and Adolescent Traumatic Grief. Research areas include the assessment of mental health poor outcomes from social crisis (genocide), domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and medical conditions (HIV, COVID-19). His contributions will be based on extensive experience in community education on trauma, resilience and trauma informed care in Rwanda and related work in a number of countries, including Benin, Republic of Central Africa, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and South Africa. For the last three years Prof. Sezibera has been serving as Co-PI in Rwanda to the HEIDI Project (Health Equity in-Context/Interdisciplinary Initiative) in partnership with University of Western.

Selected Publications:

Mutuyimana, C., Sezibera, V., & Cassady, C. (2022). Determinants of Intergenerational Trauma Transmission: A Case of the Survivors of the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi in Rwanda. In Child Behavioral Health in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 213-233). Springer, Cham.

Cénat, J. M., Noorishad, P. G., Kokou-Kpolou, C. K., Dalexis, R. D., Hajizadeh, S., Guerrier, M., … & Rousseau, C. (2021). Prevalence and correlates of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic and the major role of stigmatization in low-and middle-income countries: A multinational cross-sectional study. Psychiatry research, 297, 113714.

Mutuyimana, C., Cassady, C., Sezibera, V., & Nsabimana, E. (2021). Prevalence and associates of depression among rural and urban Rwandan mothers and their daughters 26 years after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. F1000Research, 10(1067), 1067.

Betancourt, T. S., Franchett, E., Kirk, C. M., Brennan, R. T., Rawlings, L., Wilson, B., … & Sezibera, V. (2018). Integrating social protection and early childhood development: open trial of a family home-visiting intervention, Sugira Muryango. Early Child Development and Care.

Betancourt, T. S., Ng, L. C., Kirk, C. M., Brennan, R. T., Beardslee, W. R., Stulac, S., … & Sezibera, V. (2017). Family‐based promotion of mental health in children affected by HIV: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(8), 922-930.

Ng LC, Kirk CM, Kanyanganzi F, Fawzi MC, Sezibera V, Shema E, Bizimana JI, Cyamatare FR, Betancourt TS. Risk and protective factors for suicidal ideation and behaviour in Rwandan children. The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science. 207: 262-8.