Sustainability Scholars
Sustainability Scholars are advanced trainees in psychiatry who use their special interest day each week to work with the RCPsych Sustainability and Planetary Health Committee for a period of one year.
This is a programme aimed at developing high achieving trainees knowledge and skills in leadership and sustainable quality improvement. Scholars get a dedicated study budget for their project and training and mentoring throughout the year.
Meet our Sustainability Scholars
Dr Alexander Burns
Alex is an SAS doctor who works as a liaison psychiatrist and currently works in Barnsley. He has previously led on QI projects that have aimed to embed more sustainable practice into local clinical pathways.
As a sustainability scholar, Alex is working on a project aiming to set up a Green Walking Group for inpatients at a local psychiatric unit. He also hopes to establish a relationship between the Planetary Health and Sustainability Committee and the Liaison Psychiatry Faculty in the College.
Dr Chioma Ekwutosi Maduka
An ST5 Higher Trainee in General Adult Psychiatry in the Yorkshire and Humber Deanery, with a Master’s degree in Public Health (Health Management). She has clinical experience across liaison psychiatry, community, and perinatal mental health services, with a strong interest in the intersection between environmental, social, and psychological determinants of mental health.
Chioma is passionate about compassionate leadership, sustainable quality improvement, and multidisciplinary collaboration. She has completed the NHS Mary Seacole Leadership Programme and has led several service improvement initiatives focused on patient safety, efficiency, and workforce wellbeing.
As a Sustainability Scholar with the College, she is particularly interested in advancing planetary health within psychiatric practice, promoting nature-based and preventive approaches to mental healthcare, and supporting education and advocacy to embed sustainability into everyday clinical decision-making.
Dr Praveen Kumar
Praveen is an ST5 in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, currently training in Aberdeen. He has trained across NHS Grampian, including community and inpatient posts in the Highlands and Dundee. He has a longstanding interest in health policy and is currently completing a MSc in Health Policy at Imperial College London.
As a Sustainability Scholar, Praveen is developing the first comprehensive UK policy framework for supporting young people's emotional wellbeing in the climate emergency—guidance that spans schools, youth services, and CAMHS. He is also leading a global scoping review on climate-related mental health interventions for children and adolescents. He hopes this work will inform Scottish Government and UK policy on how services can help young people care about their world whilst sustaining hope and agency.