Psychiatric epidemiology is a field which studies the causes (etiology) of mental disorders in society, as well as conceptualization and prevalence of mental illness. It is a subfield of the more general epidemiology. It has roots in sociological studies of the early 20th century. However, while sociological exposures are still widely studied in psychiatric epidemiology, the field has since expanded to the study of a wide area of environmental risk factors, such as major life events, as well as genetic exposures. Increasingly neuroscientific techniques like MRI are used to explore the mechanisms behind how exposures to risk factors may impact psychological problems and explore the neuroanatomical substrate underlying psychiatric disorders.
Glyn Lewis is a British professor of psychiatric epidemiology and the current head of the Division of Psychiatry at University College London
Patricia A. Berglund is a researcher at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. She was included in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Clarivate Analytics lists of "highly cited researchers" in the fields of psychiatry and psychology.
Ping Liu is a Chinese New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in neurobiology, especially how arginine metabolism affects brain function in normal ageing and in diseases such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.
Julia Rucklidge is a Canadian-born clinical psychologist who is the director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Group at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Her research has centered on mental health and nutrition.
Myrna Milgram Weissman is Diane Goldman Kemper Family Professor of Epidemiology in Psychiatry at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, and Chief of the Division of Translational Epidemiology at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She is an epidemiologist known for her research on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and psychiatric epidemiology, as it pertains to rates and risks of anxiety and mood disorders across generations. Among her many influential works are longitudinal studies of the impact of parental depression on their children.
Suzanne Georgina Pitama is a New Zealand academic, is Māori, of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Whare descent and as of 2020 is a full professor at the University of Otago in Christchurch, New Zealand.
David R. Murdoch is a New Zealand academic specialising in paediatric infectious diseases, especially pneumonia. He has also worked on Legionnaires' disease and has advised the Oxford University vaccine group and the New Zealand government on COVID-19. Murdoch served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago between February 2022 and June 2023.
Anne Louise Wyllie is a New Zealand microbiologist who was the lead author of a 2020 research article which led to the development of the SalivaDirect PCR method of testing saliva for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. She has also worked on community studies to better understand pneumococcal disease. She is a research scientist in epidemiology with the Public Health Modeling Unit at Yale University.
George Ian TownFRACP is a New Zealand respiratory scientist and health official. He was appointed the Chief Science Advisor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health in 2019.
The social determinants of mental health (SDOMH) are societal problems that disrupt mental health, increase risk of mental illness among certain groups, and worsen outcomes for individuals with mental illnesses. Much like the social determinants of health (SDOH), SDOMH include the non-medical factors that play a role in the likelihood and severity of health outcomes, such as income levels, education attainment, access to housing, and social inclusion. Disparities in mental health outcomes are a result of a multitude of factors and social determinants, including fixed characteristics on an individual level – such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation – and environmental factors that stem from social and economic inequalities – such as inadequate access to proper food, housing, and transportation, and exposure to pollution.
Patricia Priest is a New Zealand public health scientist and epidemiologist who is Professor of Public Health in Medicine at the University of Otago. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Priest served as an advisor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health. She was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2010. As of 2024 Priest is the Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Division of Health Sciences at the university.
Silvia Saboia Martins is a Brazilian epidemiologist and the director of the Substance Use Epidemiology Unit of the Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her research considers the epidemiology of substances abuse and origins of high opioid prescribing. She has won numerous awards for her mentoring, including the Irving Medical Center Mentor of the Year.
Susanna Every-Palmer is a New Zealand academic and forensic psychiatrist, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in mental health and achieving better outcomes for people with schizophrenia.
Rosalina Richards is a Samoan New Zealand behavioural psychologist, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in Pacific public health.
Anne-Louise M. Heath is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in baby and infant nutrition, including baby-led weaning and iron deficiency.
Virginia Violet Williams McIntosh is a New Zealand clinical psychologist, and is a full professor at the University of Canterbury, specialising in improving therapy outcomes for disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, depression and anxiety.
Robin Maree Turner is a New Zealand statistician, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in applying biostatistics to health-related research. She is the director of the Biostatistics Centre in the School of Medicine.
Lynn Carol McBain is a Canadian–New Zealand academic and specialised general practitioner, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in research on medical education, and primary health services. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
Fiona May Cram is a New Zealand social psychologist and researcher, of Ngāti Pāhauwera descent. In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Cram was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand, for services to Māori health and education.
