Professor Jackie Hoare
Professor and Head of Division
(Acting HOD Feb-April 2026)
MBChB UCT, MRC(Psych) FC(Psych) SA, MPhil (Neuropsychiatry) UCT, PhD
Position
Head of Division: Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Chair of the Groote Schuur Clinical Ethics Committee
Chair of IMPAACT Brain and Mental Health Scientific Committee
Jackie Hoare, is a neuropsychiatrist, Professor at the University of Cape Town, Head of the Division of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry UCT, research scientist, and co-director of the UCT HIV Mental Health unit, as well as a senior consultant psychiatrist at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town South Africa. Her clinical work includes treating mental illness, neurocognitive disorders and adherence in adolescents and adults with chronic illness. She has significant clinical experience in managing the mental health consequences of COVID-19, including working in frontline COVID-19 teams and supporting frontline healthcare workers.
She has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of a number of NIH USA federal funded research projects in South Africa focused on mental health, neurocognitive disorders, neuroimaging, epigenetics and developing adherence interventions in adolescents living with HIV. She also -founded and chairs the Adolescent Clinicians Group and Better Together Adolescent service at Groote Schuur Hospital.
Research Areas
Mental Health and living with chronic physical illness
Current Research Projects
HIV, functional discorders, COVID-long, pulmonary hypertension, peer support for chronic illness
Professor John Joska
Professor and Head of Division
(Acting HOD Oct 2025-Jan 2026)
MBChB UCT, FC(Psych) SA, MMed(Psych) UCT, PhD UCT,
Cert Neuropsychiatry (SA)
Position
Head of Division: Neuropsychiatry
Director: HIV Mental Health Research Unit
Current Research Interests and Projects
1. Interventions into improving Neuropsychiatric Outcomes in PLWH, including biologic and psychotherapeutic strategies
2. Audit and description of services and pathways to care - including screening tools, methods and approaches
3. Investigations into the mechanisms of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, with an emphasis on clinical, imaging and inflammatory descriptors
4. Training and skills transfer for mental health, and neurocognitive/neuropsychiatric disorders in particular
Selected Publications
Professor Petrus J de Vries
Professor
MBChB Stell, FRCPsych London, PhD Cantab
Position
Sue Struengmann Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Academic Head: Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Director: Adolescent Health Research Unit
Director: Centre for Autism Research in Africa
Research Areas
Autism Spectrum Disorders in Africa and low resource environments
Tuberous Sclerosis Complex
Adolescent Health and Health Promotion
Current Research Projects
Adolescent Health Research Unit: Sexual and reproductive health, adolescent mental health, bullying in adolescents, health & education systems for adolescents, intimate partner violence in adolescents
Centre for Autism Research in Africa: Screening and diagnostic tool evaluation and development for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), evaluation and development of interventions for ASD, health & education systems for ASD, use of technology for screening, diagnosis, intervention and training in ASD
Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) Research Programme: TSC-Associated Neuropsychiatric Disorders (TAND), clinical trials of mTOR inhibitors, natural history of TSC
Staff Research Development Programme: research methods, scientific writing and research career mentoring for existing clinical staff
Selected Publications:
Professor Sharon Kleintjes
Professor and Head of Division
MA (Clin Psych) UCT, MPhil (Child and Adol. Psych) UCT, PhD UCT
Position
Vera Grover Chair and Professor of Intellectual Disability
Head of Division: Division of Intellectual Disability Psychiatry, UCT
Employment
Jointly appointed to UCT and the Western Cape Department of Health
Professor Katherine Sorsdahl
Professor and Head of Division
B.Sc. University of Victoria, M.Sc University of Sussex, PhD UCT
Position
Director, Alan J. Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health
Current Research Interests and Projects
- Improving access to and the quality of care for people living with mental disorders.
- Developing and adapting evidence-based mental health interventions for the South African context.
- Integrating evidence-based mental health services into health systems with a focus on task sharing.
Selected Publications