Jeffrey C.L. Looi

Associate Professor Jeffrey Looi is a clinical academic neuropsychiatrist, leading international research networks on mental health services, health economics, population mental health, and psychiatric epidemiology.

He qualified MBBS (1992), and has been awarded two research higher doctorates, MD (2011) from the ANU and DMedSc (2018) from the University of Melbourne, the highest level of research degree awarded by these Universities. He is board certified as a consultant physician in psychiatry (FRANZCP, 1999) and has qualifications in medical administration (AFRACMA, 2006).

A Foundation Faculty member since 2003, he is an Associate Professor of Neuropsychiatry, Old Age Psychiatry and Psychiatry, and leads the Social Psychiatry and Epidemiology Research Unit, at the Australian National University. He was Discipline Lead/Head from 2016-2025, Academic Unit of Psychiatry & Addiction Medicine, at the Clinical School, School of Medicine & Psychology, the Australian National University. He was previously appointed as a Clinical Associate Professor at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Melbourne 2015-2019 and a Visiting Guest Researcher, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden 2006-2016. He works in private clinical practice two days per week.

Professor Looi has received multiple international research and leadership awards, including: a Fulbright Scholarship at the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, UCLA Medical School (2005); Australian Davos Connection Future Summit Leadership award (2006); and a Young Psychiatrist Award from the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists (2012). He has been a senior medico-political representative with the Australian Medical Association (awarded Fellowship of the AMA in 2024) and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists for two decades; and is an author/co-author on more than 400 papers and (Google Scholar h-index: 37, i10-index: 128 citations: 7039; since 2021 h-index: 25, i-10-index: 100 Citations: 3621; m-index: 1.19). He has supervised and mentored postgraduate research students (Masters and PhD), and research collaborators, supporting them towards local national and international awards for research excellence.

In January 2024, he was appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed medical scientific journal, Australasian Psychiatry, published by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, through Sage. He leads a dedicated, talented and diverse international editorial team of early career and experienced academics at the journal, facilitating free speech and scientific enquiry in the art and science of psychiatry and related fields.

In 2020-2021, Professor Looi co-founded with Professors Stephen Allison, Tarun Bastiampillai, and Stephen Kisely, the Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA), a virtual mental health research and policy network he coordinates at the the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. The Consortium has published over 150 collaborative papers since inception, influencing public and private sector mental healthcare policy and practice.