Duleeka (Dee) Knipe

Institution:  Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, UK.

Mentor team: Professor David Gunnell, Professor Helen Lambert, and Professor Chris Metcalfe.

Position: ESRC Global Challenges Research Fund Postdoctoral Fellow.

Current research: I am a mental health epidemiologist with an interest in life course risk factors for suicide and self-harm. My work has explored the social determinants of mental ill health and has looked at the impact of national policies in reducing suicide deaths. I have a particular research interest in mental health research in low and middle income countries. My current work involved working with government and civil society organisations to translate my research into practice.

Research interests:

• Social risk factors for suicide and self-harm
• Public health policies and interventions to reduce suicide in low and middle income countries
• Life course epidemiology
• Access to means (e.g. pesticides)

Key publications:

• Knipe, D, Gunnell, D & Eddleston, M, (2017). Preventing deaths from pesticide self-poisoning—learning from Sri Lanka’s success. The Lancet Global Health, 5, e651-e652. DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30208-5.
• Gunnell, D, Knipe, D, Chang, S-S, Pearson, M, Konradsen, F, Lee, W-J & Eddleston, M (2017). Preventing suicide by regulations aimed at restricting access to high-toxicity pesticides: A review of the international evidence. The Lancet Global Health, Aug 11. DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30299-1.
• Pearson, M, Metcalfe, C, Jayamanne, S, Gunnell, D, Weerasinghe, M, Pieris, R, Priyadarshana, C, Knipe, D, Hawton, K, Dawson, A, Bandara, P, Silva, Dd, Gawarammana, I, Eddleston, M & Konradsen, F. (2017). Effectiveness of household lockable pesticide storage to reduce pesticide self-poisoning in rural Asia: a community-based, cluster-randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, Aug 11. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31961-X.
• Knipe, D, Gunnell, D, Pieris, R, Priyadarshana, C, Hawton, K, Eddleston, M & Metcalfe, C. (2017). Is socioeconomic position associated with risk of attempted suicide in rural Sri Lanka? A cross sectional study of 165,000 individuals. BMJ Open, 7(3): e014006.
• Knipe, D., Padmanathan, P., Mutuwatte, L., Metcalfe, C. & Gunnell, D. (2017) Regional variation in suicide rates in Sri Lanka between 1955 and 2011: a spatial and temporal analysis. BMC Public Health, 17(1), 193. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-016-3961-5.

Can help with: I have expertise in using statistical software for medical research (STATA, MLwiN, SPSS), as well as skills in database design (Access). I can help with statistical analysis plans. I also chair the Bristol Suicide and Self-harm meetings and can provide links with researchers in Bristol to anyone who is interested.

What’s essential to your well-being: Maintaining a good work life balance – not having a smart phone!

Find Duleeka elsewhere:

• Twitter
• University Profile