Professor Felice Jacka is Director of the Food & Mood Centre at
Deakin University. She is also founder and president of the
International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research (ISNPR)
and immediate past president of the Australian Alliance for the
Prevention of Mental Disorders. She has been responsible for the
development of a highly innovative field of research establishing
diet and nutrition as of importance to common mental disorders.
These include the first studies to document a role for diet in
adolescent depression - the primary age of onset for common mental
disorders - the first study to identify both maternal and early
life nutrition as important predictors of children's mental health,
and the first trial to show that dietary improvement can address
depression. The results of the studies she has conducted have been
highly influential, and she is widely recognized as international
leader in the nascent but transformative field of Nutritional
Psychiatry research.
Professor Jacka's current research focuses closely on the links
between diet, gut health, and mental and brain health. This work is
being carried out with the ultimate goal of developing new,
evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies for mental
disorders. Professor Jacka has published >160 peer-reviewed
scientific papers, the majority in high-impact journals in the
mental health field including the American Journal of Psychiatry,
World Psychiatry, BMC Medicine and Lancet Psychiatry. She is listed
in the top ten most highly-cited researchers in mood disorders in
Australia (Scopus).
Personally, Felice has a passion for food and medicine, as well as
knowledge translation. She has written a book for the lay public
called 'Brain Changer' through Pan Macmillan press in Australia and
is working on a children's book with her husband. Her hope is that
her work will inspire individuals and families to prioritise a
healthier way of eating to protect their mental and brain health
over their lifespan, as well as influencing clinical practice for
people affected by mental health problems. She is also passionate
about prompting changes by policy-makers to improve the global food
environment.
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