Researcher Highlights
Connection, collaboration and community
Professor Brian Kelly
Professor Brian Kelly is a research leader keen to come together to find solutions to the challenges our communities face.
Professor Brian Kelly studied a Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Newcastle before honing on mental health as his area of expertise. He now divides his time between clinical practice, research and the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at his alma mater.
“It’s always important for me to continue to practice alongside the research,” Brian says. “I think my clinical practice helps inform my research and also gives me an opportunity to find out what’s happening out there in the world we are meant to serve.”
From leading researcher to research leader
Taking on the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) seemed an obvious progression in Brian’s career. “After being Head of School for six years I thought it was an opportunity to step into a more senior leadership role at the university and it also offered the chance to contribute more broadly to my alma mater,” he adds.
“I feel particularly connected to the University’s core values and its sense of connection with the community.”
This move also generates an opportunity to work more broadly across different disciplines in colleges and divisions. “I’ve always enjoyed working with diverse teams, and the opportunity to bring people together to work on problems is a privilege,” Brian says. “We have the chance to rise to the challenge and bring together expertise to address the issues facing our communities.”
“We are really standing out as a University that’s going from strength-to-strength, and I want to make a contribution to our research performance through supporting our researchers and the future researchers coming through the institution.”
“I want to see our graduates, post docs and academics stand out as having a particular set of skills that distinguish them from others,” Brian adds.
“I plan on doing my bit to ensure that we remain a research-intensive university that’s heavily connected with the community,” he adds. “I’m working with a great team here, so I also hope to learn a lot.”
Mental Health Research Priorities
With an increased focus on mental health as a public health priority, Brian believes we need to start by addressing a range of issues. “We need to improve our understanding of implementation of strategies to improve good mental health and prevent mental ill-health.”
There is very good evidence about mental health interventions, but the problem is getting people to use them. How can we shape and design them in a way that people feel they can connect with and stick with?
“Stigma reduction is also still a very important issue because until we can address people’s understanding of seeking help for themselves or for others, then we can build the best services in the world – but we need to encourage people to use them,” he adds.
“We want to ensure that when people are experiencing problems that we’re getting to them early,” Brian adds. “It has to be relevant to where they are, and appropriate for them.”
However, Brian also adds that it’s crucial that there needs to be a commitment to the training and education of our health professionals and practitioners. “This is a very important evidence-based tool for changing practice and very important if we’re going to improve the quality of care that people receive.”
Brian believes that there’s been quite a cultural shift in the way we view and talk about mental health. “I think we’ve still got a long way to go, but nevertheless you’ll hear discussions around mental health that wouldn’t have occurred 20 years ago in the public domain.”
He notes that that the COVID-19 pandemic has, in many ways, accentuated many of the drivers of mental health problems. “Isolation, financial and personal hardship, the disruption to community and community networks have all had an enormous impact,” he says. “And we shouldn’t forget the impact of the loss of family members, and the scale of this on a national and international levels.”
“It’s what I would call a ‘chronic disaster’.”
There has been a lot of knowledge generated over the years around the mental health impacts of disasters such as earthquakes, floods and tsunamis. “With disasters there will be a disruption and then a period of recovery,” Professor Kelly says. “But with this pandemic, even at the start of 2022, we’re yet to get through it to start to work on recovery.”
“I think we’ve got a long, long tail of recovery from this.”
What is real engagement?
The role of the Division of Research and Innovation is to connect the bigger issues across the college that relate to university themes, and provide a support and enabling role – and this is where Brian sees the Pro Vice-Chancellor role heading. “We can ask ‘What can we do to help our community of researchers, academics and the whole of the university to perform as well as possible?’,” he says.
When it comes to mentoring the next generation of research leaders, Brian is passionate about building a diverse set of skills in researchers. “They need to be connected and engage with people around research – and it’s deeper than just around their research topic.”
“It’s about developing new collaborations which address problems, where people come together to achieve a certain goal,” he adds. “Developing what are often called ‘soft skills’ of communication is actually quite hard. They can really best be learned through mentorship and further education.”
One thing that stands out for Brian in his career is the support and mentorship he’s received over the years. “Sometimes people have pushed me and said ‘you really should think about this’ when an opportunity comes along,” he says. “And even if it wasn’t what I thought was the best time – it was the best time for that opportunity.”
“And I’ll often say to students that your career is not necessarily a ladder - it’s not a straight path,” Brian says. “In fact, it can often seem like a labyrinth that takes all sorts of different directions at different times.”
“I’ve taken risks and I’m grateful for the opportunities created by them.”
Related links
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.