Brian Kelly

Professor Brian Kelly is Interim Head of School, School of Medicine and Public Health, and a Director of the Priority Research Centre for Brain and Mental Health at the University of Newcastle. He is also a Clinical Academic, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrist at John Hunter Hospital.

Professor Kelly has a distinguished track record spanning psychiatric epidemiology, palliative care, psycho-oncology, substance use, social determinants of mental health, and ethical aspects of clinical practice.

In 2004 Professor Kelly was appointed Director of the NSW Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health. He subsequently led a ground-breaking, NHMRC-funded, longitudinal study of mental health in rural regions (the Australian Rural Mental Health Study).

Flow-on projects addressing the mental health needs of farming communities include Farm Link (supported by the National Suicide Prevention Program) and the XTEND study investigating the role of social support in mental health outcomes, with a focus on men.

Professor Kelly has also conducted significant workplace interventions and research in primary industries, including coal mining, playing a key role in informing mental health policy. His work in population mental health has yielded international collaborations in South East Asia addressing workplace mental health and the impacts of environmental adversity.

He has reaped almost $12 million in nationally competitive research grants and produced over 200 publications, including more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed scientific literature. His results have been recognized internationally through high citation rates and frequent invitations for keynote addresses at conferences.