Prof. Joseph Osafo (centre) holding his award.With him are Prof. Diego De Leo (left), De Leo Fund Award Chairperson and Prof. Ella Arensman (right), President of IASP

Prof. Joseph Osafo, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psychology of the University of Ghana and the National Secretary of the Ghana Psychological Association has received the prestigious De Leo Fund Award.

The award is in recognition of his outstanding research on suicidal behaviours, carried out in developing countries and opens up new opportunities of research collaborations for Prof. Joseph Osafo. Prof. Osafo was presented with his award during the 28^thWorld Congress of the IASP held in Montreal, Canada.

The De Leo Fund Award is an award established by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) which supports and promotes research in Science in developing countries. This award is offered to outstanding scholars in recognition of their outstanding role in research on the topic of suicide.

Prof. Joseph Osafo holds a B.A degree in Psychology, with English, an MPhil in Clinical Psychology and a PhD in Health Science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Since 2008, Prof. Osafo has been carrying out research projects on suicidal behavior and has been one of the leaders and supporters in the fight against stigma about suicide in Africa. He is currently involved in promoting the interest in the topic of suicide among students and graduates and also coordinating efforts to start an official register of deaths by suicide in African hospitals. He collaborates with other researchers and NGOs in the field of mental health to build interest around this theme and develop a national policy on suicide prevention in Ghana.

Prof. Diego De Leo,Chairperson of the De Leo Fund Award said at the award ceremony, “Let me just add that I am personally very pleased that a researcher from an African country is the winner of the Prize. I hope he can promote new research projects and initiatives on the prevention of suicide in his country and the entire continent”.

Hearty Congratulations to Prof. Osafo.