Prof Charles Parry (Cape Town)
Director
Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit
Medical Research Council, PO Box 19070
Tygerberg 7505
South Africa
Tel: +27-21-938-0419
Fax: +27-21-938-0342
E-mail: cparry@mrc.ac.za

Prof Charles Parry is a substance abuse epidemiologist/policy analyst. Trained in South Africa and the USA in clinical/community psychology and mathematical statistics he has published over 100 indexed journal articles and co-authored two books: Alcohol Policy & Public Health in South Africa (1998) and Alcohol and the Developing World: A public Health Perspective (2002). He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of Addiction; Substance Abuse: Treatment, Prevention & Policy; Substance Abuse & Rehabilitation; the African Journal of Drug & Alcohol Studies, Substance Abuse & Rehabilitation, the International Journal of Alcohol & Drug Research, and International Journal of Drug Science, Policy & Law. He has advised provincial/national government on a variety of issues related to alcohol and drug policy and was involved in the formulation of South Africa’s National Drug Master Plan in 1999 and its revision in 2005. In 2006 he was appointed to the World Health Organization’s Expert Panel on Drug Dependence and Alcohol Problems and in 2010 was appointed to the technical advisory group of the UNODC/WHO joint programme on drug dependence, treatment and care, and the board of the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance.

Dr Neo Morojele (Pretoria)
Deputy Director
Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit
Medical Research Council, Private Bag X385
Pretoria, 0001
South Africa
Tel: +27-12-339-8535
Fax: +27-12-339-8594
E-mail: Neo.Morojele@mrc.ac.za

Dr Neo Morojele is a Chief Specialist Scientist and the Deputy Director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit of the Medical Research Council. She was also appointed as an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2011. She received her first degree in Psychology at the University of Zimbabwe in 1985 and then completed an MSc (Psychology of Education) at the Institute of Education of the University of London in 1988, and a PhD in Psychology at the University of Kent at Canterbury, United Kingdom, in 1994. During 1998-1999 she spent one year at Mount Sinai School of  Medicine in New York on a NIDA/INVEST postdoctoral programme. Dr Morojele has experience in conducting substance abuse research in treatment, school, bar and community settings. Her current research focuses mainly on the areas of alcohol, sexual risk behaviour and HIV; prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; and substance abuse amongst adolescents. She is the Associate Editor for Africa for the Journal of Substance Use; an Associate Editor of the African Journal of Drug and Alcohol Studies; and a Consulting Editor of the International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research. Dr Morojele is a member of the WHO Expert Working Group on the Classification of Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders of the International Advisory Group for the Revision of ICD-10 Mental and Behavioural Disorders 

Dr Andreas Plüddemann (Cape Town)
Specialist Scientist
E-mail: andreas.pluddemann@mrc.ac.za

Dr Andreas Plüddemann is a Specialist Scientist in the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit. He holds a PhD degree in Psychiatry from the University of Cape Town. His PhD study investigated methamphetamine use among adolescents in Cape Town and it’s association with mental health problems and sexual risk behaviour. He also co-ordinates the South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use, a drug trends monitoring system operational throughout South Africa’s nine provinces. The primary purpose of his position is to stimulate and conduct research in the substance abuse field, to expand the knowledge and available data on substance abuse issues in South Africa. This includes the managing of existing/ongoing research projects and the development of new research projects. In addition it includes stimulating new areas of research, building strategic partnerships with other local and international researchers, managing large multi-site research projects, informing policy and other stakeholders in NGOs and provincial and national government via regular policy and research briefs or invited presentations.

Dr Bronwyn Myers (Cape Town)
Specialist Scientist
E-mail: bronwyn.myers@mrc.ac.za

Dr Bronwyn Myers has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Cape Town and a M. Soc Sci in Clinical Psychology from University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. She is registered as a clinical psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), and is a full member of PSYSSA and the American Evaluation Association. She has taught various undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the University of Durban-Westville, University of Cape Town, and University of Stellenbosch. She currently heads up the Substance Abuse Services research stream within the Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit. She has specific interests in improving access to and the quality of substance abuse services, monitoring and evaluating the performance and outcomes of substance abuse services, and designing and implementing substance abuse services for vulnerable and underserved population groups. In the past six years, she has authored and co-authored several indexed journal articles, research reports, book chapters and policy documents on the topic of substance abuse prevention and treatment services.  She has advised provincial and national government on a variety of issues related to alcohol and drug prevention and treatment services and was involved in the formulation of minimum norms and standards for inpatient treatment services.  She has acted as a technical advisor to the World Health Organisation on substance abuse prevention and treatment systems in developing countries and has also acted as a reviewer for several peer reviewed indexed journals.

Dr Zaino Petersen (Cape Town)
Senior Scientist
Email: zaino.petersen@mrc.ac.za

Dr Zaino Petersen is employed as a senior Scientist and holds a PhD degree from the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University in Sweden. The purposed of her job is to co-manage the Substance Abuse Treatment Service Quality project within ADARU. She is also involved in the Reference group to the United Nations on HIV and injecting drug use, which collects and analyses global data on HIV/AIDS among injecting drug users. The secretariat for the reference group is based at ADARU. Her specific interests include interventions aimed at reducing drug use, specifically among poor women of reproductive age.

Belinda Chamberlain (Cape Town)
Unit Contracts Administrator
Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit
Medical Research Council, PO Box 19070
Tygerberg 7505
South Africa
Tel: +27-21-938-0324
Fax: +27-21-938-0342
E-mail: Belinda.chamberlain@mrc.ac.za

Ms Belinda Chamberlain is responsible for assisting the Unit Director and Programme Managers with financial/contractual issues. Some of the tasks include keeping an up-to-date database of projects/contracts, monitoring of income and expenditure reports, preparing certain sections of the annual budget application; assisting with the preparation of the annual parliamentary report; ensuring the optimal function of the unit through ongoing development of knowledge management systems. Ad hoc support to the Unit Director on a broad range of issues such as hosting of international seminars, strategic planning and other events, working with programme managers in developing proposals and dealing with funders.

Dr Connie Kekwaletswe (Pretoria)
Senior Scientist
E-mail: Connie.Kekwaletswe@mrc.ac.za

Dr Kekwaletswe completed both her undergraduate and postgraduate training in the USA; she has an MSc and a PhD in Clinical Health Psychology. Dr Kekwaletswe has a myriad of clinical experiences across diverse settings (community mental health centers, public hospitals and major teaching hospitals). She has worked with neuropsychiatric, behavioral medicine and rehabilitation patients across the lifespan. In line with her behavioral medicine subspecialty, Dr. Kekwaletswe currently directs a research project assessing the role of alcohol in adherence to antiretroviral therapy in patients across the various levels of medical care. Furthermore, she coordinates a brief intervention component of the project entitled: Pilot HIV Prevention Intervention in Bars and Shebeens in Tshwane, South Africa. Dr Kekwaletswe has a special interest in the social and behavioral aspects of HIV/AIDS, as well as adapting interventions for HIV/AIDS developed in other contexts to be culture and context sensitive for the local setting. 

Petal Petersen (Cape Town)
Senior Scientist
E-mail: Petal.Petersen@mrc.ac.za

Ms Petal Petersen is employed as a Senior Scientist in the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit of the Medical Research Council. She holds a MA degree in Psychological Research from the University of Cape Town and is currently working towards a PhD in their Department of Public Health and Family Medicine. Her primary role is to provide research support for the unit's substance abuse projects in the prevention area, specifically the CDC project on drugs and HIV. Her research interests include the development and implementation of behavioural interventions aimed at reducing drug abuse during pregnancy and among women of child-bearing age.

Tara Carney (Cape Town)
Senior Scientist
E-mail: tara.carney@mrc.ac.za

Ms Tara Carney is employed as a senior scientist and holds a MA in psychological research from the University from Cape Town. Her primary role is to provide research support for substance abuse projects in the prevention area, specifically the Centre of Disease Control's project on drugs and HIV in southern Africa. She also acts as project manager on additional projects in the unit. Her research interests include harm reduction and injection drug use, as well as intervention work in general and specifically aimed at adolescents who engage in substance use and delinquent behaviour. She is currently registered for a PhD at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cape Town, whereby she aims to explore this topic.

Nadine Harker Burnhams (Cape Town)
Senior Scientist
E-mail: nadine.harker@mrc.ac.za

Ms Nadine Harker Burnhams is employed as a senior scientist with the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit (Cape Town). She graduated with a MA in Health and Welfare Management at the University of Port Elizabeth and is currently working towards a PhD in their Department of Public Health and Family Medicine. She has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed journal articles and technical research reports, and policy documents on the topic of substance abuse prevention, and presented at conferences locally and internationally. She has also co-authored a book titled Alcohol, Drugs and Employment. She has advised local and provincial government on issues related to alcohol and drug abuse prevention and has acted as a technical advisor and consultant to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on the drafting of guidelines for substance abuse prevention initiatives in the workplace.  Her specific interests are in improving the quality of substance abuse prevention services, monitoring and evaluating the performance and outcomes of such services, and designing and implementing substance abuse prevention services for the work sector. She is currently the principal investigator on a study assessing the effectiveness of a substance abuse and substance-related HIV workplace prevention programme.

Sebenzile Nkosi (Pretoria)
Scientist
Email: sebenzile.nkosi@mrc.ac.za

Ms Sebenzile Nkosi is a scientist in the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit. She holds an MA degree in Research Psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand and is working towards registering for a PhD. She is currently involved in two multi-phase research projects, both of which have an HIV and alcohol consumption focus. Her primary role is providing research support for the unit’s projects, specifically database management, quantitative analysis, and report writing.

Naledi Kitleli (Pretoria)
Junior Scientist
E-mail: nkitleli@mrc.ac.za

Ms Kitleli is a scientist in the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit. Prior to working at ADARU she obtained her honors in Psychology at Rhodes University and completed her BA at Howard University in Washington D.C. Her primary role as a sub-investigator for the Alcohol/HIV bar study in drinking venues in bars and taverns in Pretoria are to coordinate CAB meeting, manage fieldworkers, facilitate with trainings and other administration activities regarding the project.   

Elmarie Nel (Pretoria)
Chief Research Technologist
E-mail: Elmarie.nel@mrc.ac.za

Ms Elmarie Nel is a Chief Research Technologist in the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit (Pretoria). She is responsible for the coordination and management of fieldwork for various projects which includes personnel, logistic and financial management of fieldwork operations. She studied at the University of Free State and worked for many years in the field of Community Health as a Registered Nurse. She was also councillor of the Bloemfontein Municipality and was involved in their HIV/AIDS programme. Currently she is involved in the following projects: Assessment of need, feasibility and acceptability of a sexual risk reduction intervention in bars and shebeens in rural areas of North West province, South Africa, HIV prevention intervention in bars and shebeens in semi-urban areas of North West province, South Africa and The effectiveness of an evidence based substance abuse and related HIV programme in the workplace, in Cape Town South Africa.

Rehana Kader (Cape Town)
PhD Research Intern
Email: Rehana.kader@mrc.ac.za

Ms Rehana Kader has earned an M Psych (Clinical Psychology) degree from the University of the Western Cape.  She is currently registered for a Ph.D. and is a research intern at the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit. Ms Kader has experience and knowledge in program management, HIV/AIDS and substance abuse, and the organization and delivery of community-based services. In 2006-2007 she was awarded the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship and was based at the Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies at the Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States of America.  Her main focus during the Fellowship was on substance abuse, performance measures and quality improvement methods for community-based addiction treatment programs, and the identification of evidence-based practices that could be adapted to the South African context.

Yolanda Williams (Cape Town)
Senior Officer
E-mail: Yolanda.williams@mrc.ac.za

Ms Yolanda Williams is an Administrative Officer who provides support to ADARU staff by assisting with various tasks which contributes to the smooth and efficient running of the Unit. Her responsibilities includes: organizing the SACENDU meetings; editing and distribution of the 6-monthly SACENDU Proceedings, maintaining databases, leave control and secretarial support. She is also providing support to specific projects by arranging their meetings and making travel arrangements, liaising with NGOs and district social service offices and is responsible for ordering and managing supplies of biological tests.

Siphokazi Dada (Cape Town)
Scientist
E-mail: siphokazi.dada@mrc.ac.za

Ms Siphokazi Dada is a Scientist in the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit. She has a BSc (Hons) degree from the University of the Western Cape and a Master of Public Health Degree (MPH) from the University of London. Before joining ADARU, she worked as an Intern at MRC’s Gender and Health Unit. She manages the South African Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use, a drug trends monitoring system operational throughout South Africa’s nine provinces. She coordinates data collection for the SACENDU project in Cape Town and other sites, assists with data analysis and report preparation for this project. She also participates in other epidemiological research being conducted in the unit.

Jacobs Kgalabi  Ngako (Pretoria)
Chief Research Technologist
E-mail: Kgalabi.ngako@mrc.ac.za

Jacobs Kgalabi Ngako is a Project Co-ordinator for a bar-based HIV intervention project.  His responsibility is to serve as a Project Manager and conduct project field visits within the Pretoria office of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit. Before joining MRC he worked in South Africa and United Kingdom as a Psychiatric Nurse practitioner.  Kgalabi is currently working towards a Doctoral degree with UNISA, and has, Mcur (University of Pretoria), Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health (Wolverhampton University), Certificate in Clinical Research (Leeds University) Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Management (UNISA), and BCur (MEDUNSA).

Mrs Eileen Rich (Pretoria)
Senior Scientist
E-mail: Eileen.Rich@mrc.ac.za

Mrs Eileen Rich has a Masters degree in Research Psychology and is looking towards registering for a PhD that will incorporate her research interests. She received her Honours and Masters degree in Psychology at the University of South Africa (Unisa).  Currently she is employed as a Senior Scientist with the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit (Pretoria) and is involved with a pilot HIV Prevention Intervention study based in bars and shebeens in rural areas in North West Province.  Before joining the MRC she worked for the Unisa Centre for Applied Psychology (UCAP) and managed a variety of projects dealing with discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) in various sectors of society. She is also a trauma counsellor.

Michelle Schneider
Senior Scientist
Email: michelle.schneider@mrc.ac.za

Ms Michelle Schneider has a Masters degree in Public Health and is looking towards registering  for a PhD that will incorporate her research areas. Prior to coming to ADARU, she worked at the MRC Burden of Diseases Research Unit, with particular interest in the burden of mental health. Currently looking at the role of alcohol in the South African psychiatric population (alcohol abuse co-morbidities), alcohol and the casual linkages of alcohol use and HIV. Specifically alcohol and HIV-related sexual risk behaviour, with a view to evidence-based interventions.

Kim Johnson (Parow site) 
Project Manager
E-mail: Kim.Johnson@mrc.ac.za 

Kim Johnson completed a MA degree in Psychological Research at the University of Stellenbosch. She is currently employed as a Project Manager of two research projects at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Unit. Her primary responsibilities on the Woman’s Health Coop and Couple’s Health Coop Projects are study coordination, management and coordination of field staff, quality control and assurance and project administration.  

Mr. Frans Masango (Pretoria)
Research Technologist
Tel: 012 339 8621
Fax: 012 339 8594
E-mail: Frans.masango@mrc.ac.za

Mr Frans Masango is a Research Technologist with the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol & Drug Abuse Research Unit (Pretoria). He is responsible for the coordination and management of fieldwork on two projects being conducted in bars and taverns in two rural areas and one semi-urban area of North West province. Previously, he has worked on a bar-based study conducted in two urban areas of Tshwane. He has a HIV/AIDS care and counselling certificate and is also studying towards a BSC- Computer Science and Psychology degree at Unisa.

Felicia Ntuli (Pretoria)
Senior Officer
Tel: 012 339 8620
Fax: 012 339 8594
E-mail: Felicia.ntuli@mrc.ac.za

Ms Felicia Ntuli is a Senior Officer who provides administrative support to the ADARU staff. She holds a B Tech Degree in Local Government Finance from Tshwane University of Technology. Before working as the Senior Officer, she worked for ADARU as a Research Technician in the Pilot HIV Prevention Intervention study based in bars and taverns in Tshwane- Gauteng Province. She also worked for the Medical Research Council Health Systems Research Unit in collaboration with the University of Western Cape as a Research Technician and team coordinator for the National PMTCT survey in Mpumalanga and Gauteng Province. She was involved in rendering technical support for the baseline situational analysis. Her primary responsibilities as the Senior Officer include providing administrative support to staff, leave control, arranging meetings and local and international travel, office supply and financial management as well as assistance with other project activities.

Dr Nandi Siegfried