Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) faculty member and mental health lead, Associate Professor Xanthe Hunt, has won the Distinguished Young Woman Researcher category at the South African Women in Science Awards in recognition of her work to address the high burden of mental health disorders among young people in under-resourced communities.
The annual awards, hosted by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, celebrate the outstanding contributions of women researchers in driving progress across science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation in South Africa.
The award was conferred at a gala dinner in Johannesburg on Thursday, 20 August.
“It’s a real honour to win, and to do so alongside so many inspiring women scientists. My work has always been guided by a desire to use research to make a positive difference in the lives of young people, particularly those who are marginalised. I’m deeply grateful to the colleagues and collaborators who have supported me along the way, and above all, to the young people whose voices and experiences continue to inspire and shape my adolescent mental health research. To be recognised in this way is incredibly meaningful and a reminder of the importance of science developed for and with youth,” Xanthe said.
More about Xanthe’s work
Throughout her career, Xanthe 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.
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.
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.
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.