Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) faculty member and mental health lead, Associate Professor Xanthe Hunt, has been named as a finalist in the annual South African Women in Science Awards (SAWiSA).
The awards, an initiative of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, recognise the outstanding contributions of women researchers in driving progress across science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation in South Africa. This year’s theme is ‘Placing women at the centre of science, technology and innovation’.
34-year-old Xanthe is a finalist in the ‘Distinguished young women researchers’ category.
Her research focuses on the high burden of mental health disorders among young people in under-resourced communities, integrating strategy, empirical research, and policy translation.
Throughout her career, she has made sustained contributions to empowering women and girls, particularly those affected by disability, poverty and gender-based violence. She has authored more than 100 journal articles, and has published an edited book. Her research on violence against women with disabilities has informed prevention frameworks and public policy in South Africa.
Xanthe also led the development of the National Department of Basic Education’s first psychosocial support strategy for the education sector, a forthcoming national guidance document focussed on embedding mental health interventions within schools with the potential to reach millions of learners and transform early prevention at scale.
Xanthe is also committed to developing the next generation of women researchers. She has supervised a number of postgraduate students to completion and is currently supervising several PhD candidates, many of whom are women, and has delivered academic writing and research capacity workshops for early-career women researchers across sub-Saharan Africa.
At AHRI, she led the development of the institute’s inaugural adolescent mental health research strategy, co-produced through engagement with 80 stakeholders across 14 countries, establishing a coordinated, Africa-led research agenda. Building on this, she is now the principal investigator of a R57.3 million Wellcome Trust-funded five-year longitudinal study of 1,536 adolescents in rural KwaZulu-Natal to develop a contextually relevant framework of adolescent mental health outcomes. As winner of the Mental Health Data Prize-Africa, she led the CO-LUMINATE study, which linked data from 5,279 adolescents with longitudinal household surveillance to identify social determinants of depression.
In addition to her post at AHRI, Xanthe holds visiting positions as an associate professor in the Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University, and as a specialist scientist at the South African Medical Research Council.
“It’s a real honour to be recognised alongside so many inspiring women scientists. My work has always been driven by the hope that research can improve the lives of young people, especially those who are marginalised. I’m grateful to the colleagues, collaborators and – most importantly – the youth who have made this nomination and the work which it is based on, possible,” she said.
Winners will be announced at the South African Women in Science Awards ceremony in Sandton on 20 August.