Justin Kenardy

Justin Kenardy has obtained funding from National Competitive Funding (NHMRC, ARC, MRFF), International Funding (NIH, PCORI, MRC, and Scottish Executive), Government grants and contracts, and other funding bodies totaling in excess of $69 million. He has published over 300 research publications including 18 edited books and book chapters, 14 electronic and visual media, 30 technical and government reports, and over 200 refereed journal articles in high-standing journals in health- and psychology-related areas. Citations total over 19500 (Google Scholar h-index of 77; Scopus 1983-2023 h-index of 56.) Based on his publication record alone he is currently ranked in the top 2% of social and clinical psychology researchers, the top 10 researchers in neck-related traumatic injury, and in the top 50 researchers in child traumatic stress worldwide.

Some Recent Translational Activities

2017: The Prince’s Trust invited Justin Kenardy to contribute to an international roundtable meeting in Dumfries Scotland to develop an early intervention for children exposed to psychological trauma. The outcome of the development process will be a low-cost sustainable intervention that can be delivered by lay counselors in international settings.

2017-2018: NSW Government/SIRA asked Justin Kenardy to assist in the development of the new legislation on the management of minor psychological injuries following motor vehicle crashes. Based on research funded by MAIC-Qld, new guidelines were developed and are now part of legislation in NSW.

2018-2019: Emerging Minds asked Justin Kenardy to assist in the development of a comprehensive resource to train different types of personnel who deliver support and care for children and young people following a disaster. This resource has been rolled out nationally.

2018-2022: Phoenix Australia asked Justin Kenardy to assist in the updating of the NHMRC-Approved Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. This resulted in a Third Edition which became a "Living Guideline" through a process of ongoing updates. These updates have been disseminated nationally and inform and guide best practice.

2016-2022: Medical procedures can be distressing and painful for children and parents. The Burns Unit at the Queensland Children’s Hospital needed to address this issue to allow for better delivery of care. We set up a research project with Dr Erin Brown, to investigate the parent and child behaviours during a burn dressing change and from this work developed a simple information-based model of intervention “Take 5” that has been piloted in clinical settings with promising results for parents and children.

2017-: An Open Science database was developed from an initial grant by the National Institutes of Health. This Database <childtraumadata.org> provides a means for researchers in the area of child trauma to access large datasets to address important questions about child trauma. Justin Kenardy is a contributor and one of the directors.

2018-2023: Justin Kenardy helped to develop NHMRC-endorsed Guidelines for the management of mental health in work-related injury by primary care with a team led by Danielle Mazza from Monash University. This led to the team obtaining an NHMRC Partnership grant valued at $2.5 million to implement these guidelines in primary care. The study involved evaluation across multiple states with a large sample of primary care practices.

2021-2023: Department of Veteran's Affairs required up-to-date and rapid advice on new and emerging treatments for PTSD to inform their decisions about veterans' healthcare. Justin Kenardy worked with a team from Gallipoli Medical Research Institute to develop and update these Rapid Reviews.