Dr. Belinda Marais

Belinda Marais is a South African academic clinician whose work centres on psychiatry and mental health systems research. Affiliated with institutions in Johannesburg, her scholarship spans public sector psychiatric hospitals and university settings, with a strong focus on service delivery, clinician well-being, and patient outcomes in severe mental illness.

Her research explores mental health literacy among healthcare workers, burnout and post-traumatic stress in mental health professionals, and psychosocial risk in leadership roles. She has also examined exercise as an adjunctive intervention in mental illness, highlighting barriers to implementation and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and training.

Clinical investigations include clozapine use, length of stay in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and forensic psychiatric follow-up, contributing to evidence-based practice in South African settings. Earlier work in infectious diseases reflects methodological strength in longitudinal and outcomes research. Together, these publications demonstrate a commitment to improving mental healthcare quality, workforce resilience, and patient-centered outcomes.