Children 0 to 12

Professor Sonja March is the Director of the Centre for Health Research and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern Queensland. Sonja has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and leads the Innovative Mental Health Solutions Research Program at UniSQ.

Her research focuses on the use of innovation and technology to improve access to evidence-based psychosocial assessments and interventions in childhood and adolescence. Prof March has developed world-first digital assessments and programs that are being translated into open access public health services, having significant impact in the Australian community.

My primary research interests are translational research, neurodevelopment, and contemplative science. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at Telethon Kids Institute (FASD Centre of Research Excellence) and have an adjunct academic position at Curtin University. I trained at the Stanford University Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE), the UCSD Center for Mindfulness, and the Institute for Mindfulness-Based Approaches.

Dr Shurong Lu is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Mental Health within The University of Melbourne. Shurong has strong research interests in the development, evaluation and dissemination of evidence-based early intervention approaches, such as Mental Health First Aid training programs.

She is passionate about creating a world where everyone, particularly children, adolescents, and those with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, can receive timely and appreciate support when facing with any mental health challenges.

I am a clinical postdoctoral researcher in the field of child mental health at the Black Dog Institute, having received my Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine) from the University of Sydney, graduating in May 2021 for my thesis titled ‘The design, implementation and evaluation of a mobile application for insomnia’. I am currently a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Child Mental Health Research Team at the Black Dog Institute, The University of New South Wales.

Dr Gemma Sicouri is an early career researcher and clinical psychologist at the Black Dog Institute at the University of New South Wales. Her research focuses on understanding the parental and cognitive factors that contribute to children’s anxiety and related disorders to inform the development and evaluation of new and improved psychological treatments. Increasingly her research uses technology to increase the accessibility and cost-effectiveness of treatments for children with anxiety and related disorders.