Prof Charles Parry is a part-time Chief Specialist Scientist in the Mental Health, Alcohol, Substance Use and Tobacco Research Unit (MASTRU) at the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). He served as Director of the unit from 2001 to 2024 and was Acting Vice President for Intramural Research at the SAMRC from 2012 to 2014.

Trained in clinical/community psychology and mathematical statistics in both South Africa and the USA, he has authored over 300 indexed journal articles and co-authored two books: Alcohol Policy & Public Health in South Africa and Alcohol and the Developing World: A Public Health Perspective.

His research focuses on alcohol and drug epidemiology and policy. He is currently Co-Principal Investigator on a UK NIHR-funded project titled “Harmful alcohol use in Southern Africa: studying drivers of drinking to inform effective action.” For 2025/26, he also chairs the committee conducting the SAMRC’s 5-year extramural unit reviews.

Since 2006, he has been a member of the WHO Expert Panel on Drug Dependence and Alcohol Problems, and since 2015, a member of both the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Alcohol & Drug Epidemiology and the UNODC Scientific Advisory Committee for the World Drug Report. In 2024, he was appointed to the Advisory Council of the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA).

Prof Parry holds a National Research Foundation B1 rating (Internationally Acclaimed Researcher – Level 1). He received the SAMRC Gold Medal in 2017 and is a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa and the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Alcohol & Drug Research.