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School of Medicine

Thirusha Naidu

Thirusha Naidu

Senior Clinical Psychologist/ Lecturer and Unit Head

Biosketch

Prof Thirusha Naidu is Head of Clinical Psychology at King Dinuzulu Hospital and an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Public Health at UKZN. Her clinical work focuses on psychotherapy for severe mental disorders and the mental health of healthcare workers. Prof Naidu’s research interests include Medical Education and Global Health in the context of mental health and infectious diseases (HIV and MDR-TB, FGS etc).  Her published work has appeared in The Lancet, Academic Medicine, Advances in Health Sciences Education and Lancet Global Health.  Prof Naidu has several multinational research collaborations across the Global North and Global South    She has given keynote addresses at the Association for Medical Educators of Europe (AMEE2022)and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC2021). Prof Naidu is a Fellow of the of Karolinkska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education.

Research Interests

  • Critical theory in Medical education research,
  • Global health and infectious diseases,
  • Global health and mental health,
  • Health care worker mental health

List of Publications

  1. Naidu T, Abimbola S. How medical education holds back health equity. Lancet. 2022 Jul 29:S01406736(22)01423-4. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01423-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35914535.
  2. Thwala, J.; Naidu, T.; Geils, C. Edwards, S.D. and Edwards, D.J. Generational Consciousness and Global Healing through Humanism, Love and Respect during COVID-19. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change. www.ijicc.net Volume 15, Issue 11, 2021
  3. Naidu T. Modern Medicine Is a Colonial Artifact: Introducing Decoloniality to Medical Education Research. Acad Med. 2021 Aug 10.
  4. Chhagan, U., Ntlantsana, V. Tomita, A., Naidu, T. Chiliza, B. Paruk, S. Investigating the impact of HIV on patients with first episode psychosis: a study protocol for a longitudinal cohort study. BMJ Open 2021;11:e046593. 3
  5. Naidu, T. (2021) Says who? Northern Ventriloquism or Epistemic Disobedience in Global Health. Lancet Glob Health; 9: e1332–35
  6. Naidu, T. (2020) The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(5), 559–561.
  7. Ramlall, S., Lessells, R.J., Naidu, T., Sandra Mthembu, S., Padayatchi, N., Burns, J.K. and Tomita, A.(2020), Neurocognitive functioning in MDR‐TB patients with and without HIV in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa. Trop Med Int Health, 25: 919-927.
  8. Naidu T, Pillay SR, Ramlall S, Mthembu SS, Padayatchi N, Burns JK, Tomita A. Major Depressionand Stigma among Individuals with Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in South Africa. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020 Sep;103(3):1067-1071.
  9. Paton, M., Naidu, T., Wyatt, T.R. et al. (2020) Dismantling the master’s house: new ways of knowing for equity and social justice in health professions education. Advances in Health Sciences Education 25, 1107–1126 (2020).
  10. Naidu, T. (2020) The Politics and Art of Naming and Re-Presenting Identity in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Social and Health Sciences Journal, 8(2), 127-135