Dr Duleeka Knipe
Expertise
Dr Knipe is a epidemiologist with an interest in the social determinants of mental health, especially suicide and self-harm.
Current positions
Associate Professor in Global Mental Health
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Contact
Press and media
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Biography
Dr Duleeka (Dee) Knipe is an epidemiologist with an interest in suicide and self-harm in low and middle income countries. She was funded on a Wellcome Trust doctoral fellowship to investigate the socioeconomic risk factors for suicidal behaviour in Sri Lanka at the University of Bristol. Her current work continues her work on the Wellcome trust funded large randomised controlled trial into the Safer Storage of pesticides as a means of suicide prevention.
She was awarded an ESRC fellowship to help translate her research findings into policy and practice, and has subsequently secured an Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Vice Chancellor's research fellowship to investigate the mental health consequences of parental emigration from Sri Lanka and the Philippines on children left behind in the country of origin. She has also received MRC pathfinder funding to explore the association between childhood adversity, domestic violence and self-harm in Sri Lanka.
Her background prior to starting her doctoral studies was in pathology and microbiology and public health.
Research interests
Dr Duleeka (Dee) Knipe is an epidemiologist with an interest in suicide and self-harm in low and middle income countries. She was funded on a Wellcome Trust doctoral fellowship to investigate the socioeconomic risk factors for suicidal behaviour in Sri Lanka at the University of Bristol. Her current work continues her work on the Wellcome trust funded large randomised controlled trial into the Safer Storage of pesticides as a means of suicide prevention.
She was awarded an ESRC fellowship to help translate her research findings into policy and practice, and has subsequently secured an Elizabeth Blackwell Institute Vice Chancellor's research fellowship to investigate the mental health consequences of parental emigration from Sri Lanka and the Philippines on children left behind in the country of origin. She has also received MRC pathfinder funding to explore the association between childhood adversity, domestic violence and self-harm in Sri Lanka.
Her background prior to starting her doctoral studies was in pathology and microbiology and public health.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
COVID-19 and self-harm in Sri Lanka
Principal Investigator
Description
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in March-April 2020, the government of Sri Lanka imposed a prohibitive, almost continuous lockdown in the form of a police-monitored curfew, where most…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
03/06/2020
The impact of COVID-19 on self-harm and suicidal behaviour: a living systematic review
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
The overarching aim of the review is to identify and appraise any newly published evidence from around the world that assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide deaths,…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/05/2020 to 01/12/2022
Hospital based case-control study of self-poisoning in Sri Lanka
Principal Investigator
Description
Self-poisoning in Sri Lanka is the main form of hospital presenting self-harm. There is limited understanding of the life-course risk factors that contribute to self-poisoning risk in Sri Lanka. This…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
08/03/2018 to 28/02/2019
Domestic Abuse and Suicide/self-harm
Principal Investigator
Description
The work stream is funded through a number of grants and is focused on understanding the association between suicide/self-harm and domestic abuse with the aim of identifying opportunities for interventionManaging organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (PHS)Dates
01/01/2018
HERA - Healthcare Responding to Violence and Abuse
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
HERA (Healthcare Responding to Violence and Abuse) aims to:
Understand how healthcare systems in LMIC can integrate and evaluate interventions for VAW that link with community organisations, and ultimately ensure better…Managing organisational unit
Bristol Medical School (THS)Dates
01/04/2017 to 01/11/2021
Thesis supervisions
Publications
Recent publications
25/01/2025Assessing the impact of paternal emigration on children ‘left-behind’ - a cohort analysis
Journal of Migration and Health
Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK
PLoS ONE
Domestic violence perpetration, victimisation and self-poisoning in Sri Lanka
BMJ Open
Preventing suicide by restricting access to Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs)
PLoS Global Public Health
Mapping commercial practices of the pesticide industry to shape science and policymaking
Health Promotion International
Related people
Professor Chris Metcalfe
Professor of Medical Statistics
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Professor Laura Howe
Professor of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Professor Julian Higgins
Professor of Evidence Synthesis
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Professor Paul Moran
Professor of Psychiatry
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Dr Emily Eyles
Senior Research Associate
Bristol Medical School (PHS)