Oye Gureje, NNOM (born in 1952) is a Nigerian psychiatrist at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and Director of World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, Neurosciences, Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the institution. He is also a Professor Extraordinary at the Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He is best known for his work on epidemiology, nosology and global mental health and as one of the leading voices on mental health service and policy development in Africa. Oye Gureje has published more than 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers, monographs, book chapters, and other reports. He has been listed, since 2004, in the "top 1% cited researchers in the area of psychiatry and psychology" and, according to Clarivate Analytics, he is one of the "most influential scientific minds" Early education Born Oyewusi Gureje in Ilesa, Osun State, Nigeria, he studied Medicine at the University of Benin, Nigeria and later obtained a Master in Science from the University of Manchester, UK. He completed a (PhD) in neuropsychiatry (title of thesis: "The nosological status of schizophrenia”) at the University of Ibadan and went on to obtain a Doctor of Science in the same university. Career Gureje has been teaching at the University of Ibadan as well as being a consultant psychiatrist at the University College Hospital since 1989. He was the Head of the Department of Psychiatry in both institutions in 1999 – 2003 and 2007 -2011. In 2010, he established the Mental Health Leadership and Advocacy Programme (mhLAP) in the institution . The pioneering programme has trained mental health specialists, service users and carers, leaders of civil society organizations as well policy makers from across 10 sub-Saharan Africa countries in mental health leadership and advocacy skills and helped to form advocacy groups for mental health service development in the five West African anglophone countries. Gureje was President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (2005 – 2009) and of the African Association of Psychiatrists and Allied Professions (2009 – 2014). He was the Zonal Representative for West and Central Africa of the World Psychiatric Association (2005 – 2008) and has been Chair of its Task Force on Brain Drain (2007 – 2008), a member of several committees. He is Senior Associate Editor of Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Epidemiology and of the International Review of Psychiatry. Mental health service