DrLouise Birrell

Dr Louise Birrell is a Senior Research Fellow and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Matilda Centre, University of Sydney, and leads the Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing research program.

Her research focuses on preventing mental ill‑health and substance‑use problems in young people by identifying key risk and protective factors, alongside the development and evaluation of scalable, school‑based preventive interventions. Dr Birrell has led and contributed to large national randomised controlled trials involving more than 13,000 students across 142 Australian schools, supporting the translation of prevention research into education and health systems.

Dr Birrell has authored >65 peer‑reviewed publications and government reports in youth mental health and substance‑use prevention, and works in partnership with government, education, philanthropy, and digital sectors to support policy‑ and practice‑relevant research.

She also plays a significant role in researcher development and research leadership, currently serving as Chair of Capacity Building for the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Precision Treatment of Depression, where she supports early‑ and mid‑career researchers to build independent, sustainable research careers.