Kerim Munir

Kerim Munir’s research is focused on autism and neurodevelopmental disorders across the lifespan, with an emphasis on understanding determinants of developmental psychopathology and comorbidity. He has also led important research training programs in global mental health, developmental disabilities and public health. He served as a member of the WHO International Classification of Diseases, 11th edition (ICD-11) Review Group on Intellectual Disabilities and is currently Secretary, World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Section on Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability. He was advisor to UNICEF-Turkey during the 1999-2001 Marmara Earthquakes, and subsequently, the lead author of the 1st National Mental Health Policy for Turkey sponsored by World Bank and Ministry of Health.

Since 2000, he has participated as PI of NIH-funded International Collaborative Operational Health Research Award (ICOHRTA) and as PI of the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) across the Lifespan Research Training Programs funded by the Fogarty International Center. He also directed a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded national research education program in Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (MHDD) for graduate students and early career scientists. Since 2012, he is PI of the International Research Bioethics Initiative for Turkey/C. Asia in collaboration with Koç University with regional participation in a Research Methodology & Ethics in the Health Sciences Summer Institute in Istanbul as a hub.

He is the recipient of the Klaus Peter Award in International Medical Education from the Harvard Medical School, George Tarjan Award in Developmental Disabilities from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, T. Berry Brazelton Award in Pediatric Innovation from the Boston Children’s Hospital Division of Developmental Medicine, as well as international awards from the National Association of Child Psychiatry and Mental Health, and the Ministry of Health, Turkey.