Harkness Project Title: Prevention or Treatment in Adolescent Mental Health? A Comparison of U.S. and Australian Strategies and Approaches
Mentors: Charles Irwin, Jr., M.D., and Claire Brindis, Dr.P.H.
Placement: University of California, San Francisco
Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Jane Burns, a 2004–05 Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy, is a senior manager at Australia’s national depression initiative, beyondblue, where she has been instrumental in establishing their nationally and internationally recognized youth agenda. She is a visiting fellow at the Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University and an honorary research fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, University of Melbourne. Burns holds an ongoing consultancy with Athlete Development Australia as their chief investigator for research exploring the impact of using athletes, musicians and celebrities as role models. She is director and adolescent health advisor to the BounceBack Foundation: Role Models for Youth and a member of the Advisory Committee for the Inspire Foundation. She has a doctorate in public health with training in psychology, psychiatric epidemiology and evidence-based medicine. Her previous appointment as an National Health and Medical Research Council Fellow at the Centre for Adolescent Health (Royal Children's Hospital) covered prevention research in youth suicide, depression, and drug and alcohol use.
Career Activity Since Fellowship
- Chief Executive Officer, Co-operative Research Centre for Young People, Technology and Well-Being, University of Melbourne, 2011
- VicHealth Senior Research Fellowship, Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, 2006
- Honorary Research Fellow, Brain & Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney, 2006
- Director of the Sunshine Foundation, and Director of International Health Policy and Research at the Inspire Foundation, 2005
- Policy Manager, Wyeth Australia, 2005
Current Position:
- Chief Executive Officer, Co-operative Research Centre for Young People, Technology
- Wellbeing VicHealth Principal Research Fellow, University of Melbourne
(Updated January 2012)
E-Mail:
jane@inspire.org.au
Harkness-Related Publications
Yu, J.W. Adams, S.H. Burns, J.M. Brindis, C.D. Irwin, C.E. (2008) “Use of Mental Health Counseling as Adolescents Become Young Adults.” Journal of Adolescent Health, 43, 3, 268-276.
Burns, J., Boucher, S., Glover, S., Graetz, B., Kay, D., Patton, G., Sawyer, M., Spence, S. (2008) “Preventing depression in young people. What does the evidence tell us and how can we use it to inform school based mental health initiatives?” Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 1, 2, 5-16.
Hickie, I. Luscombe, G. Davenport, & Burns. J. (2007) “Perspectives of young people on depression: awareness, experiences, attitudes and treatment preferences.” Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 1: 333–339.
Murray E, Burns J, See Tai S, Lai R, Nazareth I. “Interactive Health Communication Applications for Patients with Chronic Disease,” Cochrane Library 2005; 4.
Burns J., Dudley M., Patton G. and Hazell P., “Clinical management of deliberate self-harm in young people: the need for evidence-based treatments,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2005; 39:121–128.
Burns J., Martyres R.M., Clode D., Boldero J., “Overdose in young people using heroin: associations with mental health, prescription drug use and personal circumstances,” Medical Journal of Australia, 2004,181, s25-s29.
Burgess P., Pirkis J., Buckingham B., Burns J., Eagar K., Eckstein G., “Adult mental health needs and expenditure in Australia,” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2004, 39, 427 - 434.
Martyres R.M., Clode D., Burns J., “Seeking drugs or seeking help? Escalating “doctor shopping” by young heroin users before fatal overdose,” Medical Journal of Australia, 2004; 180 (5): 211-214.
Pirkis J., Hickie I., Young L., Burns J., Highet N., Davenport T., “An evaluation of beyondblue: the national depression initiative,” International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 2005; 7, 35-53. §
Burns J., and Marinac A., “Depression. No you’re not a sook,” Sons and Daughters of Vietnam Veterans, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, 2005.