About
Prof Renata Schoeman (MBChB, MSocSc, MMed, FC Psych, PhD, MBA, PgDip Futures Studies) is a psychiatrist, academic, and mental health advocate with a full-time private practice since 2008. She offers compassionate, evidence-based care to children, adolescents, and adults — with particular expertise in cognitive disorders (e.g. ADHD), eating disorders, mood and anxiety disorders.
Renata is an Associate Professor in Leadership and Head of the MBA in Healthcare Leadership specialisation stream at Stellenbosch Business School (SBS). She also teaches on the SBS Executive Development programme and is actively involved in research, supervision, training of medical professionals, and public education.
A passionate advocate for mental health access and corporate mental health, she serves on South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Mental Health and leads the SASOP Special Interest Group for ADHD. She is the co-founder of the Goldilocks and The Bear Foundation, which supports children with ADHD and other mental health challenges in underserved communities.
Renata regularly provides second opinions and expert medico-legal reports and she is a frequent contributor at local and international congresses. She has published extensively. Her academic journey includes training in neurocognition and neuroimaging at Harvard Medical School.
She is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) as well as the UK’s General Medical Council. She is a member of the Advisory Board to the World Federation of ADHD, and the Lancet Series on ADHD.
Academic projects
Prof Renata Schoeman is academically active with extensive involvement in training of students, general practitioners, peers, and allied healthcare professionals. She is passionate about corporate mental health awareness and uses her neuroscience background to assist leaders in equipping them to become balanced, healthy and dynamic leaders that take their own and their team’s emotional, intellectual, social health and physical needs into account. She enjoys research and collaborative work, has published in many peer-reviewed journals, and has presented at local and international congresses.
She is regularly invited to present at conferences and to engage with the media. Renata is available for corporate training, educational presentations, and workshops on mental health issues, neuroscience, and leadership.
Research experience and interests
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
Corporate mental health awareness, including the prevention and management of burnout
The neuroscience of leadership
Healthcare leadership
Value-based healthcare
Pain and depression
Genetics, depression and nutrition
Neuropsychological functioning of traumatised adolescents
Cognition and facial processing in schizophrenia
Bilingualism and psychosis
HIV neuropsychology
Depression in brain tumours
Social anxiety disorders
Clinical trials: various psychiatric disorders
Awards
Awards include, amongst others, the Young Minds in Psychiatry award from the American Psychiatric Association, the Discovery Foundation Fellowship award, a Thuthuka award from the NRF, and an MRC Fellowship. She also received the Top MBA student award and the Director’s award from USB for 2015.
She was a finalist for the Businesswomen’s Association of South Africa’s Businesswoman of the Year Award for 2016 and received the Excellence in Media Work award from SASOP during 2016.
During 2018 the Goldilocks and The Bear Foundation received the SASOP Award for Community Service.
In both 2018 and 2019 she has received the Media Excellence Award as Thought Leader, while in 2019 she received the Media Excellence Award as Newsmaker from the University of Stellenbosch. She was also honoured as a Mental Health Hero by the Discovery Foundation during 2019, as well as by Welum in 2021. In 2022, she was recognised by Prestige South Africa as Psychiatrist of the Year.