My Expertise
Conflict affected populations, refugee trauma, gender based violence, women's mental health, suicide.
Biography
Dr Rees, PhD, is a full-time Professor in Psychiatry and Mental Health, with a public health, behavioural science and social policy background. She is also on the Faculty of the Global Mental Health Course, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Program in Global Trauma. From 2009-2013 she was an ARC QE11 Research Fellow. Professor Rees was one of only 3 academics in the Faculty of Medicine and the only one in Psychiatry to be awarded the UNSW...view more
Dr Rees, PhD, is a full-time Professor in Psychiatry and Mental Health, with a public health, behavioural science and social policy background. She is also on the Faculty of the Global Mental Health Course, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Program in Global Trauma. From 2009-2013 she was an ARC QE11 Research Fellow. Professor Rees was one of only 3 academics in the Faculty of Medicine and the only one in Psychiatry to be awarded the UNSW SPF03 continuing academic appointment from 2014 onward. Her research focus is the mental health of conflict-affected populations, trauma, gender based violence, planetary mental health, military mental health and suicide risk, and collaborating on mental health projects led by First Nations academics. She publishes in highly ranked medical and social science journals, including JAMA, Lancet, BMJ and Nature Translation Psychiatry. She has attracted over $6,000,000 Category 1 funding in her career. She has worked as a practitioner in the domestic violence and child protection sectors, as well as in government policy positions related to women's health and welfare service development and delivery. Dr Rees has extensive research experience in countries in our region, including Timor-Leste, West Papua and Indonesia. She was employed with CSIS in Jakarta where she conducted her Masters research and was involved with research funded by the World Bank and CIDA. She speaks Bahasa Indonesia. Professor Rees has expertise in research translation, social policy, mental health interventions, program evaluations and cohort studies. Her methodological expertise includes longitudinal studies, interventions, mental health surveys and observations, mixed methods and qualitative methods.
My Grants
Current
2020-2025 Rees,S.,Reilly,L.,Adams,M.,Silove,D.
Enabling Dads and Strengthening First Nations Adolescent Mental Health
APP1201404
Funding:1690,000
2019-2022 Rees,S.,Fisher,J.,Steel,Z.,Silove,D.
NHMRC Project Grant
Refugee Women, Intimate Partner Violence and Settlement: The First Cohort Study
Funding $670.788
My Qualifications
PhD. MSoc.Pol (Hons 1). BCW. Cert Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery (Harvard).
My Research Activities
Currently Professor Rees leads three large projects, including a cohort study with women and children examining intimate partner violence, mental health, functioning and settlement (NHMRC funded), an intervention with 5 remote First Nations communities focusing on male parenting and adolescent mental health (MRFF funded) and a cohort study with women and children in Timor-Leste examining trauma, cycles of violence and child development in a conflict-affected setting (NHMRC funded). Her other projects concern sexual assault disclosure experiences and sexual assault program evaluation and antenatal care in Arabic and Sudanese communities.
My Research Supervision
Areas of supervision
Refugee mental health, women's mental health, domestic and family violence, military mental health and suicide risk, planetary mental health and ecocide.