​Swartz obtained his PhD at University of Cape Town in 1990 and is a professor of psychology. His interests span the fields of mental health and disability studies, and he was central in establishing the Centre for Public Mental Health in collaboration with University of Cape Town. Recent publications include Disability and International Development (co-edited with Mac MacLachlan, Springer 2009), and Able Bodied: Scenes from a Curious Life (Zebra, 2010). He serves on the editorial boards of a number of international journals, is editor-in- chief of African Journal of Disability, and has received awards for research and for publications. He received a Fulbright Fellowship to work on culture and mental health at Harvard University in 2002-3, and his international consulting work includes an evaluation of the Australian Transcultural Mental Health Network for the Australian Commonwealth Government. He is currently researching on access to health care for people from vulnerable groups in four African countries, language access to mental health care, and building research capacity Disabled People's Organizations in southern Africa.

​E-mail: lswartz@sun.ac.za

For information about the Department in which Swartz is based, click here.