Professor Johannes John-Langba, PhD, MPH is Director of the College of Humanities Doctoral Academy and Academic Leader of Research and Higher Degrees in the School of Applied Human Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa). He holds a PhD (Social Work) and Master of Public Health (Behavioral and Community Health Science) from the University of Pittsburgh (United States). Prof John-Langba also holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Howard University (United States) and a Bachelor of Science in Education (BSc Ed) from the University of Sierra Leone. He serves on the editorial and international advisory boards of various academic journals including Africa Population Studies, Ethics and Social Welfare, and the Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change. Prof John-Langba is the recipient of a number of scholarly awards including Excellence in Teaching Merit Award at the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and the Dr Inabel Burns Lindsay Social Work Education Leadership Awardfrom Howard University (United States), for outstanding leadership in social work education and the promotion of social justice in Africa. Prof John-Langba is the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) Regional Vice President for Africa and the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) Representative to the World Health Organization’s Africa Regional Office (WHO-AFRO). He is also Vice President and Mental Health Ambassador of Cape Mental Health (CMH) in South Africa. Prof John-Langba’s current research focuses on mental health priority needs of survivors of gender-based violence, caring for family members living with mental and neurological disorders, and the psychosocial dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic among individuals, families and communities in Africa.
