Professor Oye Gureje, NNOM
MB, MSc, PhD, DSc, FMCPsych, FWACP, FRCPsych, FRANZCP, FAS, FNAMed

Board member

Professor Gureje is a Professor of Psychiatry and Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, Neuroscience and Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ibadan. He also holds the positions of Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the University College Hospital, Ibadan and Extraordinary Professor at the Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
 
Contributions
Professor Gureje’s main research interests are in global mental health, epidemiology, aging and psychiatric nosology. He conducted the largest epidemiological study of mental disorders in Nigeria and the largest study of aging in Africa. He has written extensively on the cross-national epidemiology of pain and somatoform disorders. Prior to his large epidemiological studies conducted in primary care and in the community, he conducted clinical and neuropsychological studies of schizophrenia, and completed his PhD with a thesis on the “The nosological status of schizophrenia”. Along with on-going work on the incidence and course of psychosis, his recent studies have focused on task-shifting to expand care for depression, perinatal depression and for psychosis. He conducted the ground-breaking project exploring the feasibility and effectiveness of a collaborative shared care for psychosis delivered by traditional and faith healers working with biomedical primary care providers. In 2010, he started the Mental Health Leadership and Advocacy Programme (mhLAP), a project designed to build the capacity of diverse stakeholders in mental health leadership and advocacy skills. The mhLAP training has been attended by participants from 12 African countries. Within mhLAP, Professor Gureje has worked with groups in Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone to help develop the mental health systems of those countries through policy initiatives and targeted activities of task-shifting and mental health service development, including specific attention to improving quality of care and promoting as well as protecting the human rights of patients.
 
Major Honorary Positions
Chair, WHO Work Group on Cultural Guidance for the ICD-11 Chapter on Mental and Behavioral Disorders (2015 – 2018); Chair of the Mental Health Action Committee of the Federal Ministry of Health (2010 -); President of the African Association of Psychiatrists and Allied Professions (2009 – 2014); Chair, WHO Work Group on Somatic Distress and Dissociative Disorders for the ICD-11 Chapter on Mental and Behavioral Disorders (2008 – 2018);  Chair, World Psychiatric Association Task Force on Brain Drain (2007 - 2008); President, Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (2005 – 2009); Board Member, World Psychiatric Association (2005 – 2008).
 
Honours and Prizes

• Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Medicine (2021)
• British Journal of Psychiatry Editor’s Award (2020)
• Fellow of Nigerian Academy of Science (2013)
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Ibadan College of Medicine Alumni Association (2011)
• Nigerian National Order of Merit (2008)
• Osun State Award (2007)

 
Publications and Impact

• Published over 420 refereed journal articles, 3 edited books, 30 book chapters and monographs, 20 letters/book reviews/commentaries, 3 guest edited journal issues.
• Citations: 64,022; h-index: 103 (Google Scholar)
• Ranked among the global highly cited researchers (Clarivate Analytics)
• Named Nigeria’s topmost and most influential researcher based on citations and impact (Afriscitech.com)

 
Grants

• His research has been supported by grants from bodies such as WHO, Grand Challenges Canada, Wellcome Trust, the European Union, IDRC, Australia Aid, NIMH, NIA.