Prof Susan Sawyer
Prof Susan Sawyer
Details
Role
Group Leader / Honorary Fellow Manager
Research area
The Centre for Adolescent Health
Group
Adolescent Health
Professor Susan Sawyer holds the inaugural Chair of Adolescent Health, Department of Paediatrics, the University of Melbourne (2005 >), endowed in 2015 as the Geoff and Helen Handbury Chair of Adolescent Health. She is the Director of the Centre for Adolescent Health at The Royal Children’s Hospital (2005 >), a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Adolescent Health.
The subject of a personal profile in The Lancet (2007), she was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2013 in recognition of her contribution to adolescent health and medicine. She was awarded the Victorian Premier’s Award for Excellence in Mental Health in 2011. In 2016, she was the recipient of the University of Melbourne Engagement Award (Department of Paediatrics) in recognition of sustained community engagement, policy impact and public advocacy, the recipient of its Postgraduate Teaching Award in 2018, and its award for distinguished service in 2022.
She is the immediate past president of the International Association for Adolescent Health (2022-26) having been its president for 5 years from 2017-21, which followed two terms as IAAH vice-president (Oceania). She is co-chair of the International Pediatric Association Special Advisory Committee on Adolescent Medicine. She chairs the Victorian Government's Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Committee.
A paediatrician by training, she has helped develop the field of adolescent health, both nationally and internationally. Nationally, she was instrumental in establishing the Royal Australasian College of Physician's Committee on adolescent health and was its inaugural chairman from 2002-2007. This work established the framework that led to the accreditation of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine as a specialist field of medical practice in Australia. She chaired the RACP Advanced Training Committee in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (2019-21) and is currently leading an evaluation of the training program in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine.
Her research interests focus on health services for adolescents, with a focus on health care quality, developmentally appropriate models of care (eg transition to adult health care) and chronic disease management in adolescence. She has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
She has published over 360 peer-reviewed papers and nearly 50 book chapters; she has an H-index of 86.
The subject of a personal profile in The Lancet (2007), she was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2013 in recognition of her contribution to adolescent health and medicine. She was awarded the Victorian Premier’s Award for Excellence in Mental Health in 2011. In 2016, she was the recipient of the University of Melbourne Engagement Award (Department of Paediatrics) in recognition of sustained community engagement, policy impact and public advocacy, the recipient of its Postgraduate Teaching Award in 2018, and its award for distinguished service in 2022.
She is the immediate past president of the International Association for Adolescent Health (2022-26) having been its president for 5 years from 2017-21, which followed two terms as IAAH vice-president (Oceania). She is co-chair of the International Pediatric Association Special Advisory Committee on Adolescent Medicine. She chairs the Victorian Government's Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Committee.
A paediatrician by training, she has helped develop the field of adolescent health, both nationally and internationally. Nationally, she was instrumental in establishing the Royal Australasian College of Physician's Committee on adolescent health and was its inaugural chairman from 2002-2007. This work established the framework that led to the accreditation of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine as a specialist field of medical practice in Australia. She chaired the RACP Advanced Training Committee in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (2019-21) and is currently leading an evaluation of the training program in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine.
Her research interests focus on health services for adolescents, with a focus on health care quality, developmentally appropriate models of care (eg transition to adult health care) and chronic disease management in adolescence. She has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
She has published over 360 peer-reviewed papers and nearly 50 book chapters; she has an H-index of 86.
Professor Susan Sawyer holds the inaugural Chair of Adolescent Health, Department of Paediatrics, the University of Melbourne (2005 ), endowed in 2015 as the Geoff and Helen Handbury Chair of Adolescent Health. She is the Director of the Centre for...
Professor Susan Sawyer holds the inaugural Chair of Adolescent Health, Department of Paediatrics, the University of Melbourne (2005 >), endowed in 2015 as the Geoff and Helen Handbury Chair of Adolescent Health. She is the Director of the Centre for Adolescent Health at The Royal Children’s Hospital (2005 >), a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Adolescent Health.
The subject of a personal profile in The Lancet (2007), she was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2013 in recognition of her contribution to adolescent health and medicine. She was awarded the Victorian Premier’s Award for Excellence in Mental Health in 2011. In 2016, she was the recipient of the University of Melbourne Engagement Award (Department of Paediatrics) in recognition of sustained community engagement, policy impact and public advocacy, the recipient of its Postgraduate Teaching Award in 2018, and its award for distinguished service in 2022.
She is the immediate past president of the International Association for Adolescent Health (2022-26) having been its president for 5 years from 2017-21, which followed two terms as IAAH vice-president (Oceania). She is co-chair of the International Pediatric Association Special Advisory Committee on Adolescent Medicine. She chairs the Victorian Government's Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Committee.
A paediatrician by training, she has helped develop the field of adolescent health, both nationally and internationally. Nationally, she was instrumental in establishing the Royal Australasian College of Physician's Committee on adolescent health and was its inaugural chairman from 2002-2007. This work established the framework that led to the accreditation of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine as a specialist field of medical practice in Australia. She chaired the RACP Advanced Training Committee in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (2019-21) and is currently leading an evaluation of the training program in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine.
Her research interests focus on health services for adolescents, with a focus on health care quality, developmentally appropriate models of care (eg transition to adult health care) and chronic disease management in adolescence. She has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
She has published over 360 peer-reviewed papers and nearly 50 book chapters; she has an H-index of 86.
The subject of a personal profile in The Lancet (2007), she was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2013 in recognition of her contribution to adolescent health and medicine. She was awarded the Victorian Premier’s Award for Excellence in Mental Health in 2011. In 2016, she was the recipient of the University of Melbourne Engagement Award (Department of Paediatrics) in recognition of sustained community engagement, policy impact and public advocacy, the recipient of its Postgraduate Teaching Award in 2018, and its award for distinguished service in 2022.
She is the immediate past president of the International Association for Adolescent Health (2022-26) having been its president for 5 years from 2017-21, which followed two terms as IAAH vice-president (Oceania). She is co-chair of the International Pediatric Association Special Advisory Committee on Adolescent Medicine. She chairs the Victorian Government's Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Committee.
A paediatrician by training, she has helped develop the field of adolescent health, both nationally and internationally. Nationally, she was instrumental in establishing the Royal Australasian College of Physician's Committee on adolescent health and was its inaugural chairman from 2002-2007. This work established the framework that led to the accreditation of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine as a specialist field of medical practice in Australia. She chaired the RACP Advanced Training Committee in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (2019-21) and is currently leading an evaluation of the training program in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine.
Her research interests focus on health services for adolescents, with a focus on health care quality, developmentally appropriate models of care (eg transition to adult health care) and chronic disease management in adolescence. She has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
She has published over 360 peer-reviewed papers and nearly 50 book chapters; she has an H-index of 86.
Top Publications
- Luo, D, Sawyer, SM, Husin, HM, Dashti, SG, Vijayakumar, N. The effect of timing and tempo of adrenarche on depression and anxiety in adolescence: A prospective cohort analysis.. Psychoneuroendocrinology 186: 107776 2026 view publication
- Armocida, B, Sawyer, SM, Monasta, L, Ong, KL, Pasovic, M, Xu, Y, Tuomilehto, J, Beran, D. Enhancing Global Burden of Disease Estimates With Collaborative Data Insights: A Case Study of Type 1 Diabetes in Finland.. J Adolesc Health 78(4) : 662 -668 2026 view publication
- Calais-Ferreira, L, Rivas, TMR, Azzopardi, P, Brown, A, Kinner, SA, Sawyer, SM. Deaths caused by non-communicable diseases among Australian adolescents in the 2001-2019 period.. Public Health Res Pract 36(1) : 2026 view publication
- Luo, D, Sawyer, SM, Vijayakumar, N, Dashti, SG. Are sex differences in adolescent depression and anxiety driven by adrenarchal hormones? A causal mediation analysis from a prospective cohort study.. J Affect Disord 397: 121012 2026 view publication
- Burton, C, Crowe, L, Allan, E, Singh, M, Eckhardt, S, Le Grange, D, Ehrenreich-May, J, Finchett, C, Sawyer, S, Dimitropoulos, G. Family-Based Treatment + Unified Protocol for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: An Exploratory Feasibility and Treatment Response Study in a Case Series of Adolescents.. Int J Eat Disord 2026 view publication
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