Dr Rohan Borschmann has been nominated and accepted to be a new Board of Director for AAAH.

Rohan is an NHMRC Early Career Research Fellow in the Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne. A former prison psychologist in QLD, he has a particular interest in self-harm and substance use among marginalised populations. He has a doctoral degree in clinical psychology and a PhD from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN; King’s College in London, UK). Rohan has experience working in the public and private sectors in direct service provision, secondary consultation, research, health promotion and community education. He has conducted research in Australia, Canada and the UK, and has presented his research findings at conferences in Brazil, Italy, South Africa, the USA, the UK and Australia. Rohan has co-authored more than more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and his articles have been published in top-tiered journals including the The Lancet, The British Medical Journal, The British Journal of Psychiatry, The Lancet Psychiatry and The Cochrane Library. He has secured more than $3.1 million in competitive funding since 2013, including a 4-year Early Career Fellowship from the NHMRC to examine suicide and self-harm in young justice-involved populations and other marginalised groups. In 2015 Rohan was named the Early Career Researcher of the Year by Australia’s Society for Mental Health Research (SMHR).

What is AAAH?

The AAAH was originally incorporated in 1978 and flourished during the 1980s and early 90s, before entering a quiescent phase after the withdrawal of federal funding. In 2011 AAAH was re-launched at the Youth Health 2011 conference in Sydney, NSW.

Since then, the Association has hosted two very successful conferences, Fremantle in 2013 and the 2015 Youth Health Conference in Melbourne in November 2015. Over the last four years AAAH has developed links with a range of other organisations including the International Association for Adolescent Health, the Australian Medical Association, the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Many more links are being developed as our membership and reputation grow.

AAAH aims to improve the health of young people across Australia and to advocate for the health needs of this group. By becoming a member of AAAH, individuals have the opportunity to be part of this process and to develop links and networks with a group of people committed to ensuring that the specific health issues affecting young people are acknowledged and addressed.

AAAH is a proud member of the IAAH (International Association for Adolescent Health).