Karen Hazell-Raine

Karen Hazell-Raine is an Associate Professor in Mental Health at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle, and a Research Affiliate with the HMRI Women's Health Research Program. She holds concurrent appointments at Charles Darwin University, including Associate Dean Research.

• Education: PhD in Medicine (Psychiatry) from the University of Sydney, Master of Counselling from the University of Western Sydney, Master of Infant Mental Health from the New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry.

Research Interests focus on maternal/parental mental health, early relational experiences, and lifelong impacts on child development. She advocates for integrating personality measures into prenatal screening to optimize mother-infant relationships and reduce health system costs.

Her scientific work spans perinatal mental health screening, cannabis policy reform, and telehealth service models. Recent studies analyze maternal hospitalization impacts on pregnancy outcomes and the reliability of depression screening tools across genders.

• Awards: Inaugural Elaine Tolley Medal (2014).
• Grants: $897,821 in funding, including projects on perinatal mental health pathways and academic support for parenting students.

She supervises PhD candidates in perinatal environments, human services resilience, and digital health solutions. Her work aligns with the Dynamic Maturational Model (DMM) of attachment and adaptation, emphasizing observational methods for parent-infant relationships.