Christina Driver

Dr. Christina Driver is a Lecturer and Course Coordinator at the Thompson Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), specializing in Mental Health and Neuroscience. She coordinates postgraduate programs including the Graduate Certificate, Diploma, and Master's in Mental Health and Neuroscience. Her research focuses on youth mental health, adolescent brain development, lifestyle behaviors, and traumatic stress, contributing to the Thompson Institute's Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study.

Dr. Driver holds a PhD from UniSC, a Postgraduate Diploma in Neuroscience from the University of New England, and a First-Class Honors BSc from St Mary’s University, UK. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK) and a Science Mentor for Frontiers for Young Minds.

Her research interests span psychosocial strategies in healthcare, biopsychosocial models of care, and neurobiological impacts of cyberbullying. Notably, she received the 2021 Vice Chancellor and President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, shared with Liz Askew, for developing innovative online MHN programs.

Dr. Driver’s work emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, combining neuroimaging, longitudinal cohort studies, and clinical interventions. She supervises research in youth mental health and neurodevelopmental mechanisms, with publications addressing cyberbullying effects, brain structural changes, and early intervention strategies.