This is the news blog for the Department of Psychiatry
Dr. Olivia Matshabane, a neuroethics researcher in the South African Medical Research Council (SA MRC) Genomics of Brain Disorders Unit in the Department of Psychiatry at Stellenbosch University was awarded a R4.1-million seed grant from the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in…
GALENOS: Global Alliance for Living Evidence on aNxiety, depressiOn and pSychosis Introducing the Fellows: Dr. Elugbadebo Olufisayo, MBBS, MSc, FWACP is an early career clinical and academic psychiatrist. She is a consultant psychiatrist at the University College Hospital, a lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and the Vice President…
GALENOS: Global Alliance for Living Evidence on aNxiety, depressiOn and pSychosis A new living evidence resource of early phase research for research prioritisation in mental health. The number of research publications is increasing every day, in all scientific areas including mental health. This makes it increasingly more…
On 1 October 2023, Dr. Olivia Matshabane, a neuroethics researcher, joined the SAMRC/SU Extramural Unit on the Genomics of Brain Disorders in the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) at SU on permanent appointment. Dr Matshabane joins us from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH), National…
Dr. Anusha Lachman, head of the Adolescent Psychiatry Unit at Tygerberg Hospital and senior lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, together with the Tygerberg Hospital Children’s Trust (THCT), a non-profit organization patronaged by The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, received a R3.4 million grant from the Stavros…
By Kirsten Rowe on behalf of the organising committee; photos by Domenic Gorin. Mental illness is a huge contributor to the aggregate burden of “years lived with disability”. Half of all mental illness starts before the age of 14-years-old. Resource allocation to mental health care is generally limited and…
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…