HIV/AIDS and Psychiatry

John A. Joska is a Head of the Division of Neuropsychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town. He is the Director of the UCT HIV Mental Health Research Unit, and the Western Cape Provincial Programme Manager for HIV Psychiatry. His interests are in HIV and Mental Health, particularly mechanisms of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, mental health services, and general neuropsychiatry. John completed both under- and post-graduate training at UCT. Following completion of his fellowship in psychiatry in 2002, he obtained the Mmed (psychiatry) in 2006, and his PhD in the Neurocognitive Disorders of HIV in 2011. John has been involved in several innovative research projects, including the development of assertive community outreach programmes in the Province, and the development of a smartphone application to assist primary health care providers to assess for the presence of dementia. His group was recently funded to conduct a randomized controlled trial of lithium in HIV-associated dementia. He is excited by the opportunities and challenges provided by working in Cape Town, South Africa. Dan J Stein is Professor and Chair of the Dept of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town, Director of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit on Anxiety Disorders, and Visiting Professor of Psychiatry at Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York. He is interested in the psychobiology and management of the anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and related, and traumatic and stress disorders. He has also mentored work in other areas that are of particular relevance to South Africa and Africa, including neuroHIV/AIDS and substance use disorders. Dan did his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Cape Town, and his doctorate (in the area of clinical neuroscience) at the University of Stellenbosch. He trained in psychiatry, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship (in the area of psychopharmacology) at Columbia University in New York. His training also includes a doctorate in philosophy. He is inspired by the way in which psychiatry integrates science and humanism, and contributes to addressing some of the big questions posed by life. Dan's work ranges from basic neuroscience, through clinical investigations and trials, and on to epidemiological and cross-cultural studies. He is enthusiastic about the possibility of clinical practice and scientific research that integrates theoretical concepts and empirical data across these different levels. Having worked for many years in South Africa, he is also enthusiastic about establishing integrative approaches to services, training, and research in the context of a low and-middle-income country.