It is with profound sadness that we report the passing of Dan Stein on Saturday 6 December 2025, after a short illness.
Dan was professor of psychiatry and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, and director of the South African MRC Unit on Risk and Resilience and Mental Disorders. He studied medicine at UCT between 1980 and 87 (MbChB), including an intercalated degree (BSc) with majors in biochemistry and psychology. Whilst training in psychiatry, he undertook a fellowship in psychopharmacology at Columbia University and later completed doctoral degrees in both clinical neuroscience (2001, PhD) and philosophy (2007, DPhil) at the University of Stellenbosch.
Dan was a sensitive and kind clinician, a gifted researcher, and an exceptional leader. He nurtured clinical and academic staff from all backgrounds and established vibrant, wide-ranging, and long-lasting collaborative networks. Under his leadership, the university department in UCT soon acquired a much-deserved international reputation for excellence in research and training. Dan also strived to improve access to and delivery of psychiatric services within South Africa. He was a dedicated and enthusiastic supporter of psychopharmacology and applied neuroscience societies around the world, including ECNP, CINP, the World Psychiatric Association, the International College of Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders, and the African College of Neuropsychopharmacology, of which he was founding president. One of the founding members of the ECNP Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders Network (OCRN), he was also just due to start his two-year term on the Scientific Programme Committee of 40th ECNP Congress in 2027. He will be greatly missed.
We offer sincere condolences to his family, and to all those who have benefited from his wisdom, humour and friendship.
David Baldwin, Naomi Fineberg, David Nutt