Rate My Professor Shyamala Nada-Raja

Dr Shyamala Nada-Raja is a Senior Research Fellow in the Division of Health Sciences at the University of Otago, where she has served as an academic staff member since 1987. She earned her BSc, Postgraduate Diploma in Science with Credit, Master of Science with Distinction, and PhD from the University of Otago. Her doctoral thesis, completed in 2001, examined a longitudinal study of predictors for physical assault victimization. Throughout her career, Nada-Raja has been affiliated with the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine in the Dunedin School of Medicine and the Injury Prevention Research Unit. Currently, she is based in the Va'a o Tautai Centre for Pacific Health. She delivers guest lectures at undergraduate and postgraduate levels on the epidemiology of self-harm and suicide, as well as the application of web-based interventions for mental health issues. In clinical practice, she implements web-based interventions for mental health in primary care and small community settings.

Nada-Raja's research specializations encompass mental health epidemiology, violence and suicide prevention, eHealth interventions, and youth wellbeing, with a particular emphasis on the determinants of mental health among high school and university students, including Pacific students. Her projects draw on longitudinal data from the Dunedin Study and include the development of online wellbeing interventions, rural mental health studies, and harmonized app-based tools. She has served as Principal Investigator for the RID trial, Recovery via Internet from Depression, overseeing study design, data collection, analysis, and dissemination. Funding for her research team has been obtained from competitive grants by the Health Research Council, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Accident Compensation Corporation, and Lottery Health. Key publications include 'Suicide Attempt in Young People: A Signal for Long-term Care and Treatment' (2014), 'A Population-Based Study of Help-Seeking for Self-Harm in Young Adults' (2003), 'Self-Harmful Behaviors in a Population-Based Sample of Young Adults' (2004), 'Folauga: A Model to Support the Retention and Success of Pacific Students in Higher Education in Aotearoa New Zealand' (2024), and 'First-Year Pacific Students’ Perception of Their Well-Being Journey at University in Aotearoa New Zealand' (2024). Her scholarly output has accumulated over 3,000 citations, underscoring its influence on public health and preventive medicine.