Speaker
Dr Louise Birrell
Senior Research Fellow & NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, The Matilda Centre, University of Sydney
Biography
Dr Louise Birrell (PhD, BPsych, BSocSc)is a Senior Research Fellow and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Matilda Centre, University of Sydney. As the Program Lead for Young People’s Mental Health & Wellbeing, Dr Birrell’s research focuses on identifying risk and protective factors for youth mental health and substance use. Dr Birrell also develops and evaluates preventive interventions, playing a key role in two major school-based digital health trials in Australia, collectively involving 142 schools and >13,000 students.
Dr Birrell has authored 56 peer-reviewed publications, 1 book chapter & 7 government reports in youth mental health and substance use.
Dr Birrell works across multidisciplinary teams with a number of key stakeholders including: the Department of Health, schools, philanthropy, digital agencies and national peak bodies for mental health prevention. Dr Birrell acted as academic co-lead of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Prevention and Early Intervention in Mental Illness and Substance Use (PREMISE) Youth Advisory Board and is current chair of Capacity Building for the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in the Precision Treatment of Depression, where she supports and leads key initatives for EMCR development.