Local Speakers
Prof Ryan Blumenthal
Prof Ryan Blumenthal is a senior specialist forensic pathologist and associate professor at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Forensic Medicine. He has published widely in the fields of electrocution, suicide and other areas involving the pathology of trauma. His chief mission in life is to help advance Forensic Pathology Services both nationally and internationally. Blumenthal has published 44 articles in peer-reviewed Journals. He has contributed Chapters to seven (7) international textbooks. He has written four books for the public. He is currently an NRF-C2 rated scientist. His book 'Autopsy - Life in the trenches with a forensic pathologist from Africa' (Jonathan Ball Publishers) launched August 2020 became a non-fiction best-seller in South Africa. It is currently in its thirteenth (13th) print and has been translated into Afrikaans (“Outopsietafel – Stories van ‘n Geregtelik Geneesheer in Afrika” - 2025) and Russian (“вскрытие блюменталя вскрытие блюменталя”). His eight-part documentary “Lightning Pathologist” (Channel 180 DSTV) aired 9 November 2020 to 20 November 2020, and was viewed by over 2.2 million people. His book – ‘Risking Life for Death – Lessons for the Living from the Autopsy Table’ (Jonathan Ball Publishers) launched July 2023 and is currently in its second print.
• On the 31st August 2023, Ryan Blumenthal won the NRF Award for the Public Engagement in Research.
• On the 22nd October 2023, Ryan Blumenthal won the Absa Professional Excellence Award.
• On the 31st July 2025, Ryan Blumenthal won the NSTF Award or the Communication of Science.
Dr Anusha Lachman
Dr Anusha Lachman is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town South Africa. She served as President of the South African Society of Psychiatrists (2023-2025) and current is the President’s Executive at Large for the World Association for Infant Mental Health (2024-2026). She is a chair of the Clinical Care Workgroup for the Africa Global Mental health Institute and serves on the World Psychiatric Association’s Education and Publication committee. She is the head of Child & Adolescent Clinical Services at Tygerberg Tertiary Hospital and a trainer for the Subspeciality program for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. She leads the Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatry Unit and runs the service for Paediatric Consultation Liaison. Dr Lachman is the convenor of the Master’s MPHIL Program for Infant Mental health, the only degree offered on the African Continent for multidisciplinary training in IMH, and is a co-lead of Stellenbosch University’s transdisciplinary Public Square think tank in Early Intervention and Child Mental health. Her PHD was awarded in Infant and Maternal Mental Health in 2022, and her research portfolio includes transdisciplinary research in perinatal and infant mental health, medical education and adolescent neuropsychiatry. She is well published having led seminal papers in high impact journals Nature Medicine and the Lancet on IMH in Africa, and supervised over 20 MPhil candidates in the field. She continues to be involved in innovation in teaching and research in the field of culturally sensitive perinatal and infant mental health, with a focus on upskilling and task shifting through education and training.
Prof Priya Soma-Pillay
Biographical sketch coming soon.
