The Alan J Flisher Memorial Lecture is held annually in memory of Prof Flisher who was a pioneer in the field of public mental health in South Africa and a world-renowned scientist, academic, mentor and mental health professional. This year, Dr Victoria Mutiso will be delivering the lecture.
Dr Victoria Mutiso is a Clinical Psychologist and head of research at the Africa Mental Health Research and Training Foundation (AMHRTF), Kenya.
Her research interest is on child and adolescent mental health, development and adaptation of culturally-appropriate interventions around promotion of mental well-being and prevention of/or delay of the onset of mental illness in young people as well as under-served and marginalized populations in Kenyan urban and rural settings. She has experience in navigating the Kenyan political and bureaucratic terrains and with this experience has successfully engaged with a Kenyan county government to integrate mental health services at primary healthcare level. She has been Principal and Co-Investigator in several mental health projects at AMHRTF and with other Kenyan and international collaborators on mental health and substance abuse which are the basis for policy and practice in Kenya. In addition, she has several publications on various aspects of public mental health in Kenya.
The African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI) is a mental health research capacity building programme. AMARI-II builds on the initial AMARI-I which ran from 2015 – 2022. AMARI-II is being implemented with funding support of the second phase of the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training, and Science in Africa (DELTAS Africa), an initiative of the Science for Africa Foundation (SFA). This initiative is supported by the Wellcome Trust and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
Purpose
AMARI-II is a consortium of six African universities whose overall goal is to build excellence in leadership, training, and science amongst African scholars in mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) research in Africa. AMARI-II aims to shift the centre of gravity in global mental health (GMH) by ensuring that African scientists become leaders in GMH research, training and implementation. Key focus will be on strengthening AMARI-II’s collective ability to introduce interventions that reduce the treatment gap for mental health conditions in Africa. The Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health (CPMH) invites applications from South African citizens or permanent residents for a 4-year full-time PhD fellowship.
Conditions
The successful incumbent will be required to:
Register for full-time study at the Centre for Public Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry & Mental Health at the University of Cape Town in January 2024. (The fellow may not be registered for any other higher education programme during the fellowship.)
Comply with the University’s approved policies, procedures and practises for the postgraduate sector
Enter into a bi-lateral Memorandum of Understanding with their supervisor
Live in Cape Town for the duration of the fellowship.
Successful candidaSuccessful candidates will not be permitted to be on salaried employment concurrently. No service will be required in return of the award, although we expect the successful fellow to dedicate 10% of their time to CPMH activities, such as conducting webinars for PGDip/Masters students or contributing to CPMH online or in-person events, including seminars and workshops.tes will not be permitted to be on salaried/full-time employment concurrently. No service will be required in return of the award.
Value & Tenure of Fellowship
The value of the Scholarship is R300 000 per year. This is a tax- free stipend. Generous research running costs are available to carry out the intended research. Although the tenure of the scholarships is for 4 years, evidence of satisfactory academic progress will be required for continued registration.
Academic Criteria
Applicants require a prior Master’s degree in a foundational discipline relevant to public mental health (e.g. psychology, public health, medicine, nursing, social work). Applicants should have strong interpersonal skills, and be able to work in a collaborative fashion as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
The University of Cape Town reserves the right: To disqualify ineligible, incomplete and/or inappropriate applications, to change the conditions of award, and/ or to make no awards at all.
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