This is the news blog for the Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Maura Lappeman is the newly appointed principal psychologist at Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital. She previously worked for almost a decade at the community and district level in Khayelitsha. In 2020, she completed her PhD in Psychology at Stellenbosch University. Her dissertation focussed on the provision of care to those…
Drs Jacqueline Holdsworth-Jenkins, Luzanne van der Colff, Nikita Hagroo, Shazia Jassat, and Zikhona Cwayi joined the department as psychiatry registrars in August 2023. Dr. Jenkins has taken many years to find herself in a career that resonates with her values formed from the richness and diversity of past experiences.…
Prof Willie Pienaar, an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Psychiatry with more than 40 years of experience in healthcare (clinical and academic) published a book in Afrikaans titled ‘Sober – n’ Pratiese gid na vryheid van verslawing’. What inspired Prof Piennar to write this book? As clinicians, educationists,…
In 2023, the Department of Psychiatry enrolled the first students for the new MSc in Neuroscience degree, a research-based programme with no study modules. The aim of the programme is to train researchers who can contribute toward the biopsychosocial understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders and develop much-needed research capacity in neuroscience in…
Dr’s Angus Fletcher, Kholofelo Morodi, Musa Ngwenya, and Sinombulelo Booi joined the MMed (Psychiatry) programme in February 2023. Dr. Flecther completed his MBChB degree at the University of Pretoria after growing up under the purple canopy of the Jacaranda trees. He then set his sights on Cape Town, where…
At the Stellenbosch University December 2022 graduation ceremony, the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences had 3 PhD graduates: Dr Jaiyeola A. Kajero investigated the potential attenuating effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on antipsychotic-induced vacuous chewing movements, behavioural and biochemical aberrations, and cognitive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia…
Dr’s Carine Gagiono and Menasia Patterson joined the MMed (Psychiatry) programme in August 2022. Dr. Gagiano completed her BCur (Nursing) degree at Stellenbosch University (SU) in 2007. She soon realized that she wanted to be a doctor so she applied for MBChB 4 years consecutively at SU. In 2013…
Dr. Stéfan du Plessis is a clinician scientist who specializes in MRI neuroimaging with related software and hardware development and has over ten years of experience in the field. He received his MBChB from Stellenbosch University in 2005. In 2019 he completed his PhD, where he investigated the impact of…
Dr’s Angus Byers, Jessica Kew, Anmari van Dyk, and Elle Visser joined the MMed (Psychiatry) programme in February 2022. Dr. Byers completed his MBChB at Stellenbosch University in 2012, thereafter he did his two years of internship at the East London Hospital Complex. From 2015 to 2017 Dr Byers…
Dr. Dominique Eugene, Ph.D., is a multicultural Haitian American who has been residing in Cape Town since October 2021. She is an early career clinical psychologist, a licensed marriage and family therapist, a registered play therapist, a certified trauma specialist, and an infant-family and early childhood mental health specialist focused…