Professor Divya Mehta

Biography

Employment History: Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, QUT and Adjunct Research Fellow Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland (current – 2019). Research Fellow Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland (2013-2016). Postdoctoral Researcher (2009-2013), Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Germany.

Career Overview: I am a geneticist and biostatistician working at the interface of psychiatry, statistics and molecular genetics. My biology foundation together with Human Genetics advanced training has driven me to my current field of interest and research in the application of statistical methods in psychiatric genetics. My inter-disciplinary background provides me with a strong theoretical foundation of basic biology and genetics to allow me to interpret the data in a meaningful way and test for specific biological and statistical hypothesis. Selected Awards and Grants: Over 20 research awards/travel grants over the last 5 years including the CINP Rafaelson Young Investigator Award 2016, QUT Vice Chancellors Research Fellowship 2016, NARSAD Young Investigator Award 2015, University of Queensland Early Career Researcher Grant 2015, Annual Chadwick Center Lectureship 2014, Radys Hospital San Diego, U.S.A., European Psychiatry Association Research Prize 2014 and International College of Neuropsychopharmacology Rafaelson Young Investigator Award 2013. Overall track record: I have published >75 articles in top-rank journals including Science and Nature, with first authored papers in leading journals such as PNAS, JAMA Psychiatry and Archives of General Psychiatry, 2nd author on a Nature Genetics and Nature Neuroscience papers and last author in Genome Biology. I have co-authored three invited book chapters in genomics and psychiatry. My field-weighted citation index (September 2020) is 5.64. Research Support: I have received over $3 Million in research funds as Chief Investigator. Some examples are shown below: 1) National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant (2017-2021), AUD 1.2 Million, Project – “Mapping the specific pathways to early-onset mental health disorders”. 2) National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant (2017-2021), AUD 846k, Project – “Integrated model of environmental, neurodevelopmental, and epigenetic resistance and responsiveness to early intervention in childhood psychopathology”. 3) Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation research grant (2017-2018), $33k, “Identification of inherited versus combat-induced epigenetic changes in PTSD” 4) QUT MCR pilot QUT mid-career researcher pilot grant (2017-2018), $10k, "Epigenetics in monozygotic twins to dissect the biological aetiology underlying PTSD" 5) Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research (CYSAR) Pilot Grant (2017-2018), AUD 11k, Project – “Identification of attention bias modification–induced epigenetic changes in binge drinking young adults”. 6) QUT Vice Chancellors Research Fellowship (2016-2019), AUD $373,463. Project – “Trans-generational epigenetic inheritance of DNA methylation changes in Australian veterans with PTSD and their children”. 7) NARSAD Young Investigator Grant (2015-2018), Brain and Behavior Foundation, AUD $90,000. Project – “Early predictive biomarkers for Postpartum depression”. 8) The University of Queensland Early Career Researcher Grant, AUD $40,000, 2015-2016. Project – “To investigate the biological mechanisms underlying the long-term beneficial effects of pregnancy for Multiple Sclerosis”.