Person

Christensen, Helen

AO FAA FASSA FAAHMS

Born
Hay, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Mental health expert and Psychiatrist

Summary

Helen Christensen is leading expert on using technology to deliver evidence-based interventions for the prevention and treatment of depression, anxiety, suicide, and self-harm. Her research is particularly focused on young people, using school-based programs. In 2000, she developed the digital intervention program, MoodGYM, which has been used widely across the world. Christensen is Scientia Professor of Mental Health at the University of New South Wales. Since 2011 she has been Executive and Board Director of the Black Dog Institute. In 2924 she was named Scientist of the Year in the New South Wales Premier's Prizes in Science for her pioneering work in digital mental health research.

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Details

"Professor Helen Christensen is widely regarded as a world leader in the field of digital mental health interventions. She pioneered many of the processes and strategies that are used internationally today. Trained as a clinical psychologist, she led the translation of traditional face-to-face psychological treatment to digital delivery. Through over 50 trials and cohort studies, Professor Christensen demonstrated the effectiveness of digital interventions. Relatedly, she has pioneered the science of digital phenotyping by which passive data collection (from smartphones) can monitor a person's mental health. Overall, her digital developments have been used by millions of people globally, meaning that Professor Christensen has had an enormous global impact on mental health." [from https://www.science.org.au/profile/helen-christensen 2026-01-15]

Chronology

2004 -
Award - Fellow, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
2006 - 2012
Career position - Director, Centre for Mental Health, Australian National University
2009 - 2012
Career position - Member, National Health and Medical Research Council Academy
2011 - 2021
Career position - Executive Director and Chief Scientist, Black Dog Institute
2015 -
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences
2017
Award - Prize for Leadership in Innovation, New South Wales Premier's Prizes in Science
2019
Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to medical research through the development of on-line mental health treatment programs
2022 -
Career position - Board Director, Black Dog Institute
2023
Award - RSNSW James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales
2024
Award - Scientist of the Year, New South Wales Premier's Prizes in Science
2025 -
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science

Related Awards

Published resources

Resources

  • 'Christensen, Helen', The Academy's Fellows [Fellows elected between 2025 and 2030], Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 2025, https://www.science.org.au/profile/helen-christensen. https://www.science.org.au/fellowship. Details

See also

Helen Cohn

Created: 15 January 2026

EOAS ID: biogs/P007943b.htm

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