Research
Explore our projects, scientific publications, reports databases, and other resources.
The CAMHI SA Team
Prof. Jason Bantjes
Professor Jason Bantjes is a mental health and suicide prevention researcher who joined the SAMRC in January 2022. He previously worked at Stellenbosch University’s Institute for Life Course Health Research, where he still holds an extraordinary appointment, and he has trained clinical psychologists in the university’s Psychology Department. A former psychologist and psychotherapist, he is also an Honorary Professor at UCT and Associate Editor of BMC Public Health. His research focuses on psychiatric epidemiology, mental health promotion, and suicide prevention, with a special interest in adolescents and young adults.
Dr. Jean Luyt
Dr. Jean Luyt is a Clinical Psychologist, passionate about supporting families, particularly adoptive families. She is committed to ensuring that children grow up in nurturing family environments and actively contributes to the adoption community through Cape Town Adoption Support, which she founded in 2008. In her private practice, she provides counselling to adults, adolescents, and families, with a particular focus on the adoption community. She has extensive experience in adoption-related therapy.Jean has provided training, primarily in child and family therapy and group therapy, and supervision to future clinical psychologists at Stellenbosch University, UCT, and Rhodes University. Currently, she provides professional supervision to mental health practitioners, with a focus on those working with adoptees and adoptive families. She obtained her PhD at Stellenbosch University exploring the experiences of transracial adoptive families, and she is dedicated to advancing locally peer-reviewed research that is specific to the South African context.
Lesley-Ann Erasmus-Claassen
Lesley-Ann Erasmus-Claassen is a Project Coordinator managing multiple studies within the Mental Health, Alcohol, Substance Use, and Tobacco Drug Research Unit (MASTRU) of the South African Medical Research Council. She holds a Psychology (B Psych) degree from the University of the Western Cape (UWC), a postgraduate qualification in Business and Project Management, and is currently working towards an MPhil degree in Public Mental Health at the University of Cape Town. Since 2015, she has been overseeing quality control, coordinating projects, training field staff, and managing administration for various research studies in public mental health and substance misuse.
Noluthando Mpisane
Noluthando Mpisane is a Scientist in the Mental Health, Alcohol, Substance Use, and Tobacco Drug Research Unit (MASTRU) of the South African Medical Research Council. She holds a Master’s degree in Research Psychology from the University of the Western Cape and is a registered Research Psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). She is currently pursuing her PhD in Public Health with the Institute for Life Course Health Research at Stellenbosch University. She is involved in various projects that focus on mental health and substance use. She also works on issues related to HIV and mental health, as well as promoting child and adolescent mental health.
Dr. Mirriam Mkhize
Dr. Mirriam Mkhize is a social worker and public mental health researcher. She holds a PhD in Public Mental Health from the Alan J. Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health at the University of Cape Town and has extensive clinical and research experience working with adolescents, youth, and families in diverse, under-resourced communities across South Africa.
She is passionate about promoting adolescent mental health and well-being. Her research focuses on strengthening mental health through culturally adapted, scalable, and school-based interventions tailored to South African contexts. Dr. Mkhize has experience managing a range of adolescent health research projects, building stakeholder capacity, and providing supervision and training for clinicians and partner organisations in evidence-based interventions.
Yeukai Chideya
Yeukai Chideya is a clinical social worker and researcher committed to using creative, community-driven communication strategies to engage the public in impactful and empowering conversations about mental health. Yeukai has extensive experience working with children, adolescents, caregivers and communities affected by traumatic events, including refugees and people displaced by humanitarian crises. From 2011 to 2020, Yeukai held several senior managerial positions at the Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture. Her responsibilities included providing psychosocial support to children and adolescents affected by traumatic experiences such as gang violence, domestic violence, sexual abuse, bullying and xenophobia. Since 2020, Yeukai has worked as a researcher at the Institute for Life Course Health Research at Stellenbosch University, where she is enrolled as a PhD candidate in Public Health. Yeukai’s research interests include child and adolescent mental health; trauma, violence, and injuries; sexual and reproductive health; and forced displacement. Through her work, Yeukai aim’s to amplify the voices of those impacted by violence and trauma, including children and adolescents, and contribute to evidence-based practices and policies that promote healing and social justice.
Systematic reviews of the scientific literature
We are currently conducting three scientific reviews of the current state of knowledge on child and adolescent mental health in South Africa. The review protocols are available here and we will be sharing open-source materials from the reviews as soon as they are complete.
Review
Protocol of systematic review of assessment instruments for child and adolescent mental disorders in South Africa.
This review explores the existing evidence on the development, cultural adaptation, and validation of psychometric instruments used to assess the mental health of children and adolescents in South Africa.
Review
Protocol of systematic review of interventions to prevent or treat mental health problems among children and adolescents in South Africa.
This review examines the evidence on the effectiveness of prevention and treatment approaches for child and adolescent mental disorders in South Africa.
Research collaborators
Here are some of the excellent South African child and youth mental health research partners.
Collaborator
Prof. Inge Petersen, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Professor Inge Petersen is a Research Professor and Director of the Centre for Rural Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, as well as Visiting Professor at the Global Health Institute, University College London. She has extensive expertise in health systems strengthening for integrated primary health care and community health, with an emphasis on mental health care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Collaborator
Prof. Arvinkumar Bhana, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Professor Arvin Bhana is a Chief Specialist Scientist at the SAMRC and a registered clinical psychologist. He holds honorary and research appointments at the Universities of KwaZulu-Natal and the Witwatersrand, and earned his PhD in Clinical and Community Psychology from the University of Illinois. His research focuses on adolescent mental health, psychosocial well-being, and integrating mental health into primary care.
Collaborator
Dr. Anusha Lachman, Tygerberg Hospital & Stellenbosch University
Dr. Anusha Lachman is the C&A consultant at the adolescent inpatient unit at Tygerberg Hospital and the Head of the Clinical Unit at Tygerberg Child Psychiatry. She is also the program convener for the MPhil in Infant Mental Health. Dr. Anusha Lachman‘s research interests include maternal and infant mental health, adolescent neuropsychiatry, and paediatric consultation-liaison psychiatry.
Collaborator
A/Prof. Andre Janse Van Rensburg, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Associate Professor André Janse van Rensburg is a senior researcher in the Centre for Rural Health. He has 10 years’ experience in health systems research, in multiple settings, with extensive involvement in system strengthening initiatives in the public health sphere. He has a disciplinary background in monitoring and evaluation, sociology and political science, and holds a joint doctorate from Ghent University and Stellenbosch University.
Collaborator
Prof. Saeeda Paruk, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Collaborator
Dr. Carrie Brooke-Sumner, South African Medical Research Council
Dr. Carrie Brooke-Sumner is a Specialist Scientist at the South African Medical Research Council, in the Mental Health, Alcohol, Substance Use, and Tobacco Research Unit. Her research focus is building evidence on social determinants of mental health and for implementation of community-based and health systems strengthening mental health interventions. With a strong commitment to advancing mental health interventions and incorporating lived experience research, she focuses on integrating mental health into primary and community settings, with a special interest in peer-led recovery strategies for people with severe mental health conditions and child and adolescent mental health.
Collaborator
Dr. Rene Nassen, Stellenbosch University & Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness
Dr. Nassen, is a Fellow of the South African College of Psychiatrists, a registered child and adolescent psychiatrist and a senior lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University. She is the clinical head of the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) at Lentegeur Hospital, a tertiary mental healthcare facility based in the Western Cape. She was recently appointed as provincial coordinator for CAMHS and leads a project to strengthen CAMHS in the Western Cape Province.
Collaborator
Prof. Bonginkosi Chiliza, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Professor Bonga Chiliza is Head of Psychiatry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and President-Elect of the South African Society of Psychiatrists. He holds a PhD from Stellenbosch University and specialises in schizophrenia, consultation-liaison psychiatry, and medical education. He is Deputy Editor of the South African Journal of Psychiatry, has published over 50 peer-reviewed works, and has received several awards, including the Hamilton Naki Fellowship. He also serves on various NGO boards and is a founding director of Harambee Medical Consulting and the African Global Mental Health Institute.
Collaborator
Dr. Tasneem Kathree, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Dr. Tasneem Kathree (PhD) is a Senior Researcher at the CRH.
Collaborator
A/Prof. Zamasomi Luvuno, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Zamasomi P. Busisiwe Luvuno (Ph.D) is an Associate Professor, a deputy director at the Centre for Rural Health (UKZN School of Nursing and Public Health) and a certified Quality Improvement Advisor.
Associate Professor Meyiwa-Luvuno is an implementation science Fogarty Fellow and is skilled and experienced in developing large-scale health systems strengthening projects/programs in HIV, TB and Mental health.
Research Interest in Key Populations for HIV and the LGBTI community.
Collaborator
Prof. Sarah Skeen, Institute for Life Course Health Research
Professor Sarah Skeen is a Professor of Global Health and Co-Director of the Institute for Life Course Health Research. She is a public health researcher dedicated to improving outcomes for children, adolescents, and their families in contexts of high adversity. Her work focuses on two interrelated areas: child and adolescent health—including mental health, sexual and reproductive health, and school-based interventions—and maternal and caregiver well-being, including maternal mental health, parenting, and caregiver support. She is strongly committed to evidence-based policy and has led numerous reviews and contributed to global guidance documents and toolkits on mental health, adolescent HIV, parenting adolescents, and adolescent pregnancy. In addition to her research, she is actively involved in mentoring early career researchers and building research capacity in low and middle income countries.
Collaborator
Prof. Mark Tomlinson, Institute for Life Course Health Research
Collaborator
Prof. Xanthe Hunt, African Health Research Institute & Stellenbosch University
Professor Xanthe Hunt is a member of faculty at Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), an Associate Professor of global health at Stellenbosch University, and an honourary specialist scientist at the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). At AHRI, she leads adolescent mental health, a major strategic research area for the institute. Xanthe holds a PhD in psychology from Stellenbosch University and has postgraduate training from Harvard and Stellenbosch Universities in epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methods. Her expertise is in mental health, violence prevention and intervention, sexual health, disability, and social protection. In her research, Xanthe has worked across sub-Saharan Africa, including in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia, and has led health systems’ strengthening initiatives, monitoring and evaluation projects, as well as a range of research studies, including trials. Xanthe’s work also includes a strong policy and knowledge mobilisation component.
Collaborator
Prof. Soraya Seedat, Stellenbosch University
Prof. Seedat is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Executive Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Stellenbosch University. She held the South African Research Chair in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder for 15 years (until the end of 2022) and currently directs the South African Medical Research Council Unit on the Genomics of Brain Disorders. Prof Seedat is an expert in the field of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety disorders, in adolescents and adults, and in the investigation of mechanisms of risk and resilience in adolescent and adult samples and has published widely in these areas.
Collaborator
Dr. Tamara Maresky, Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness
Research papers
Some recent scientific outputs from our partner organisations.
Paper
Community Keepers
Paper
Khan, A., Yousafzai, A. W., & Bantjes, J. (2024)
Framework for suicide prevention among college students in low- and middle-income countries. Khyber Medical University Journal, 16(3), 270–73.
Paper
Bantjes, J., Hunt, X., Cuijpers, P., Kazdin, A.E., Kennedy, C.J., Luedtke, A., Malenica, I., Petukhova, M., Sampson, N., Zainal, N.H., Davids, C., Dunn-Coetzee, M., Gerber, R., Stein, D.J., Kessler, R.C. (2024)
Comparative effectiveness of remote digital gamified and group CBT skills training interventions for anxiety and depression among college students: results of a three-arm randomised controlled trial. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 178. e104554.
Paper
Bantjes, J., Kessler, M. J., Lochner, C., Breet, E., Bawa, A., Roos, J., ... & Stein, D. J. (2023)
The mental health of university students in South Africa: Results of the national student survey. Journal of Affective Disorders. 321. 217-226.
Paper
Bantjes, J., Kessler, M.J., Hunt, X. Stein, D. & Kessler, R.C. (2023)
Treatment rates and barriers to mental health service utilisation among university students in South Africa. Int J Ment Health Syst 17, 38.
Paper
Grassroot Soccer
Paper
Bantjes, J., Kessler, M., Hunt, X., Kessler, R., & Stein, D. (2023)
Prevalence and correlates of 30-day suicidal ideation and intent: Results of the South African National Student Mental Health Survey. South African Medical Journal.
Paper
Bantjes, J., Hunt, X. & Stein, D.J. (2022)
Public Health Approaches to Promoting University Students’ Mental Health: A Global Perspective. Current Psychiatry Reports, 24(12), 809-818.
Paper
Bantjes, J., Breet, E., Saal, W., Lochner, C., Roos, J., Taljaard, L., Auerbach, R.P., Mortier, P., Bruffaerts, R., Kessler, R.C. & Stein, D. J. (2022)
Epidemiology of non-fatal suicidal behaviour among first-year university students in South Africa. Death Studies, 46(4), 816-823.
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