Brenda Happell

Professor Brenda Happell is a registered mental health nurse with over 28 years of academic experience across Australia. She holds a Professorship in the Faculty of Health at Southern Cross University and has held leadership roles including Director of the Centre for Psychiatric Nursing at the University of Melbourne and Executive Director of SYNERGY Research Centre at the University of Canberra. Her research focuses on mental health service improvement, physical health of people with mental illness, and nursing education. She has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles and attracted $14M in research funding.

Education: PhD (La Trobe University, 1995). Key research interests include consumer participation in mental health services, nurse education reforms, and addressing health inequalities. She is a Fellow of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses and former Editor of the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing.

• Leadership roles: Inaugural Director of Centre for Psychiatric Nursing (Melbourne), Director of Institute for Health and Social Science Research (CQU)
• Current roles: Board Director of Australian College of Mental Health Nurses
• Advocacy: Queensland Mental Health and Drug Advisory Council member

Her recent work emphasizes nurse-led physical health interventions and expert-by-experience integration in education. She supervises higher-degree students with a 100% completion rate.

Awards: Fellowship from Australian College of Mental Health Nurses.

Grants/Research: $14M in competitive funding; projects include Mental Health Nurse Consultant roles and Safewards initiatives. Active in curriculum development for mental health nursing education.

Labs/Teams: SYNERGY Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre (formerly), currently leading research in Southern Cross University's Faculty of Health.