Ian Hickie

Professor Ian Hickie is a Professor of Psychiatry and Co-Director of Health and Policy at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre. He holds the prestigious NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow position (2013–2022) and previously served as an inaugural Commissioner on Australia’s National Mental Health Commission (2012–2018). His work focuses on early intervention in youth mental health, suicide prevention, and leveraging digital health technologies for personalized care.

Research Interests: Clinical psychiatry emphasizing mood disorders and circadian rhythms; development of real-time measurement-based care systems; integration of mental health with chronic disease management. Key projects include leadership of NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence (CRE) for youth mental health and suicide prevention. He co-leads Project Synergy, a $30M government-funded initiative transforming mental health services through technology.

Awards: Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), Fellowships from Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (FRANZCP), Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA), American Heart Association (FAHM), and Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN).

Grants/Advising: Led over 40 national/international projects funded by government agencies, pharmaceutical companies (Servier, Pfizer), and partnerships like Innowell (University of Sydney/PwC). Advised organizations including Medibank Private and headspace.

Labs/Teams: Brain and Mind Centre collaborations; core member of international studies on mood disorder onset; Principal Investigator for longitudinal twin studies tracking adolescent mental health trajectories.