Dr Felicity Brown will undertake research at Harvard University into refugee mental health
Dr Felicity Brown will undertake research at Harvard University into refugee mental health
7 November 2014

A University of Queensland researcher is bound for Harvard, thanks to the Australian Government’s Endeavour Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship for 2015.

Clinical psychologist Dr Felicity Brown will continue her research into the mental health in refugee children and families when she takes up a postdoctoral position at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr Brown said she hoped her project would lead to improved services, and psychological and social outcomes of refugee youth and families in the United States and Australia.

“Refugee mental health is an issue of ongoing global importance, so I am excited and honoured to have the privilege to take part in the Endeavour Scholarship programme,” Dr Brown said.

“This gives me the opportunity to apply the skills I have learned at UQ in delivering and evaluating evidence-based family interventions, in a world leading programme at the Harvard University Research Program on Children and Global Adversity,” she said.

“I will be working with international expert Associate Professor Theresa Betancourt to explore interventions for resettled refugee youth and families and will gain experience in refugee mental health, cross cultural psychology, and community-based research.”

Thirteen other UQ researchers have been awarded with  2015 Endeavour Scholarships or Fellowships, providing them with an opportunities to further their skills and knowledge overseas while building their international awareness.

Scholarship and fellowship recipients from UQ will undertake research at institutions all over the world.

UQ recipients of 2015 Endeavour Research Fellowship, and their destinations, are:

·         Guia Morelli – University of Bordeaux, France

·         Alyssa Marshell – Palau International Coral Reef Center, Palau

·         Dr Karrera Djoko – Emory University, USA.

·         Merryn Constable – University of Toronto, Canada.

·         Tim Wu – Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

·         Mitch Sullivan – Karolinski Institute, Sweden.

·         Andrew Pascale – The Border Consortium, Thailand.

·         David Adamson – Royal Veterinary College, UK.

·         Thanh Quang Le – Vanderbilt University, USA

·         Kwong Yew Low – Stern School of Business, USA

UQ’s Tamara Butler will travel to the University of Dundee in the UK on a 2015 Endeavour Research Fellowship for Indigenous Australians, and Robert Mason will work at the University of Oxford, also in the UK, on a 2015 Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarship.

UQ will welcome 38 researchers from Bangladesh, Canada, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Colombia, China, Nepal, Croatia, Germany, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Singapore and the UK.

Media: Caroline Bird, UQ Communications, 07 3365 1130 or c.bird1@uq.edu.au