Global Child Mental Health Symposium

Leyla Ismayilova, PhD is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Specializing in developing and adapting family-based interventions to enhance child well-being on a global scale, she has contributed to international research projects in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union. Her research agenda focuses on culturally congruent interventions to bolster mental health and mitigate risk behaviors among vulnerable children and youth. To tackle social determinants, she explores the integration of economic empowerment strategies into mental health preventive interventions for at-risk children and families. She is currently Principal Investigator on an R01 study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which aims to adapt and test three evidence-based approaches to aid children reintegrating from institutions with their families in Azerbaijan.

Dr. Ismayilova founded and directed the Center for Psychological Counseling in Azerbaijan, the country's pioneer mental health clinic offering counseling services to individuals and families facing emotional and behavioral challenges. She holds a PhD and MSW from the Columbia University School of Social Work. As one of the initial Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) fellows from Azerbaijan at Columbia, she also holds BA and MA degrees in Psychology from Azerbaijan.

Shirin Kazimov, MD, MPH, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Adult Psychoanalytic Training Program and Fellowship in Hospital-Based Psychotherapy at Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, MA. He serves as a clinical supervisor at the National Mental Health Center under the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan, where he provides ongoing training and supervision to multidisciplinary teams of clinicians who deliver mental health services to children with a history of institutional care. 

Dr Kazimov also has a remote private practice in Azerbaijan. His expertise includes capacity building for clinicians, including the use of cognitive assessment tools such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V). Within this initiative, he has trained clinicians in the Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) Framework as well as non-verbal therapeutic methods for children with a history of complex developmental trauma.

Dr. Kazimov earned his MD in Azerbaijan and holds a PsyD/MA in Clinical Psychology and an MPH in Public Health from the U.S.  

Kamran Salayev, MD, PhD is a pediatric neurologist and Founder/Director of Medina Medical Center in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he provides high-quality evidence-based rehabilitation services to children with a broad spectrum of neurological and psychiatric disorders. He is an Assistant Professor at Azerbaijan Medical University, Department of Nervous Diseases and Medical Genetics and serves as an expert in children’s neurodevelopment with the Azerbaijan Ministry of Education.

Dr. Salayev has led several national projects and international collaborations aimed at the social inclusion and educational needs of children with special needs. He specializes in the treatment of neurological conditions, including epilepsy, developmental delay, language disorders and autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Salayev received D43 postdoctoral training in International Bioethics with the National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center in Boston, MA.

He holds a MD in Pediatrics from Azerbaijan and PhD in Clinical Neurology from Japan.

Mr. Zakir Soltanov serves as the Executive Director of the Research and Education Center in Azerbaijan. He is the Project Administrator for Dr. Leyla Ismayilova’s NICHD-funded R01 study on optimizing prevention approaches for children reintegrating from orphanages in Azerbaijan. 

Mr. Soltanov has over a decade of experience in nonprofit management, business development, and community development practice. He previously worked as the National Director of SOS Children’s Villages of Azerbaijan, the largest NGO providing social support services to children without parental care, where he played a key role in the development of national child safeguarding guidelines and foster care reform. Mr. Soltanov has also led UNICEF-funded social work projects and served as a National Consultant to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Education in projects to support vulnerable groups in public education.

Within his study, he played a pivotal role in adapting and implementing economic empowerment programs for vulnerable children from low-income families. This included establishing partnerships with local banks to launch the Matched Child Savings Account model, a pioneering initiative in the Eurasian region. He holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in International Management from Germany.