About Dr. Laila Asmal

Dr. Laila Asmal is a clinician scientist who heads the Psychosis Research Unit at Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa. She is an associate professor and earned her PhD examining neuroimaging and schizophrenia in first-episode schizophrenia in South Africa. Her work examining childhood trauma and neuroimaging in psychosis helped develop her special interest in the biological, behavioral, and environmental factors contributing to psychosis risk and recovery in Africa. She is an experienced neuropsychiatrist with an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology and is passionate about raising awareness of the relative neglect of psychosis in the global health agenda. Her vision is a collaborative network of African centers of psychosis research.

Session Overview

In this presentation, Dr. Asmal will:

• Summarize the relationship between urbanization and psychosis risk

• Identify potential social adversity factors underlying psychosis risk in the urban setting

• Recognize the potential association between multi-morbidity and psychosis in the urban African landscape