About MindBridge Malaysia

Built on research.
Driven by purpose.
Coming home.

MindBridge Malaysia is led by a consultant psychiatrist who has spent over a decade studying the mental health challenges facing Malaysians — and building something to address them.

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Dr Shaeraine Raaj Consultant Psychiatrist
A mission built on evidence,
not assumption.
Dr Shaeraine Raaj did not arrive in Malaysia with a business plan. He arrived with over a decade of clinical experience, four peer-reviewed publications on Malaysian mental health, and a deep personal conviction that his home country deserved better access to specialist psychiatric care. MindBridge Malaysia is the result of that conviction — made real.
Consultant psychiatrist
Dr Shaeraine Raaj
Consultant Psychiatrist · Founder · MindBridge Malaysia
MRCPsych MCPsychI MD HDip M.Ed MSc CSCST Ireland
The founder's story

Born in Malaysia.
Trained in Ireland.
Returning with purpose.

Dr Shaeraine Raaj was born and raised in Malaysia. He completed his medical training and went on to build a distinguished career as a consultant psychiatrist in Ireland — working across Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, the Royal College of Surgeons Dublin, and Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, where he served as a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) consultant.

Throughout his career in Ireland, he never stopped thinking about Malaysia. About the patients at home who had no access to the kind of care he was delivering. About the stigma that kept millions silent. About the gap between what was possible and what was available.

"Growing someone's path has always been part of my dreams. Because I think achieving collective goodness is better than one person's success."
Dr Shaeraine Raaj
Published research

Four papers.
One consistent
message.

Dr Raaj's published work spans over a decade and focuses on the mental health challenges facing Malaysia and Ireland. His research is not theoretical — it is a blueprint for what MindBridge is built to address. His 2021 paper on mental disorders in Malaysia was awarded the most viewed medical publication of 2024.

Medical research Malaysia
2021
Mental disorders in Malaysia: an increase in lifetime prevalence
BJPsych International · Vol. 18, Issue 4, pp. 97–99 · November 2021 · DOI: 10.1192/bji.2021.4
Raaj S, Navanathan S, Tharmaselan M, Lally J
Documents a rising prevalence of mental disorders in Malaysia and outlines the legislative and structural challenges — including stigma, discrimination, and the limitations of the Mental Health Act 2001 — that prevent timely access to care.
🏆 Most viewed medical publication 2024
"
There is an increasing prevalence of mental disorders in Malaysia, with a growing need to improve access to timely and efficient mental healthcare to address this burden.
Raaj et al. · BJPsych International · 2021 · DOI: 10.1192/bji.2021.4
ADHD research
2024
Adult ADHD in the Republic of Ireland: the evolving response
BJPsych Bulletin · June 2024
Raaj S, Wrigley M, Farrelly S
Examines the systemic gap in adult ADHD services, the public health and economic cost of untreated ADHD, and Ireland's national response. The principles in this paper directly inform MindBridge's approach to ADHD assessment and treatment in Malaysia.
"
Historically, ADHD was conceptualised as a disorder of childhood that gradually improved and diminished as individuals transitioned to adulthood. We now know this is not the case — and the consequences of leaving it untreated are significant.
Raaj et al. · BJPsych Bulletin · 2024
Perinatal mental health
2023
Perinatal mental health in Malaysia: understanding the treatment gap
BJPsych International · Vol. 20, Issue 1, p. 9 · 2023
Raaj S, Verghese V, Tharmaseelan M, Duffy R, Sinnadorai NKS
Provides an overview of perinatal mental health in Malaysia, highlighting substantial gaps in maternal mental health service delivery and offering recommendations for the development of perinatal mental health services in the country.
"
There is an increasing prevalence of perinatal mental illness in low- and middle-income countries, and Malaysia is no exception. Despite significant improvements over the past decade, there are substantial gaps in the delivery of perinatal health services.
Raaj et al. · BJPsych International · 2023 · Vol. 20, Issue 1
Hospital clinical setting
2021
Admission patterns in a psychiatric intensive care unit in Ireland: a longitudinal follow-up
April 2021 · Phoenix Care Centre (PICU), Dublin
Raaj S, Navanathan S, Matti B, Browne R
A retrospective study of 91 admission episodes to Ireland's PICU, examining clinical characteristics and admission patterns. Demonstrates Dr Raaj's experience with complex, high-acuity psychiatric cases — clinical depth that directly informs his telepsychiatry assessments.
Hospital in Ireland
Over a decade of
frontline clinical
experience.
Clinical career timeline
2026
Founder — MindBridge Malaysia
Launching telepsychiatry services to Malaysia · August 2026
2024
Lead author — BJPsych Bulletin, Adult ADHD Ireland
Most viewed medical publication 2024 award
2023
Published — Perinatal Mental Health in Malaysia · BJPsych Int'l
Forensic Psychiatry Research Summer School · Taranto, Italy
2021
PICU Consultant · Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, Dublin
General Adult Inpatient & Liaison Psychiatrist · Phoenix Care Centre
2021
Published — Mental Disorders in Malaysia · BJPsych Int'l
Co-authored with Navanathan, Tharmaselan, Lally · DOI: 10.1192/bji.2021.4
Earlier
Specialist Registrar · Mater Misericordiae University Hospital Dublin
Liaison psychiatry & neuropsychiatry · Royal College of Surgeons Ireland
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia skyline

Ireland trained.
Malaysia bound.

After years of publishing research on Malaysia's mental health crisis, Dr Raaj made the decision to stop writing about the problem — and start doing something about it.

Hopeful dawn
Our mission

To make specialist
psychiatric care accessible
to every Malaysian.

MindBridge Malaysia exists because the research is clear — the gap in Malaysia's mental health system is real, it is growing, and it is causing harm. We are here to close it, one consultation at a time. No waiting lists. No travel. No stigma. Just honest, compassionate, specialist care.

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