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Contact Details

Email
jessica.kerr@otago.ac.nz
Position
Research Fellow
Department
Department of Psychological Medicine (Christchurch)
Research summary
Dr Kerr's research examines early-life determinants of poor cardiometabolic and mental health

Research

Dr Kerr holds joint positions at University of Otago, Christchurch and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne. She has expertise in the fields of adolescent and adult nutrition, obesity, cardiovascular and mental health (with special interests in personality).

Currently, Dr Kerr works on projects examining optimal environments for health, focusing on neighbourhood characteristics; and is beginning to build the TIME Consortium (The International Mortality in Early life Consortium) to harmonise mature cohort studies and examine risk factors for premature mortality.

Publications

GBD 2023 Mental Disorder Collaborators, including Kerr, J. A. (2026). Updated trends in the global prevalence and burden of mental disorders, 1990-2023: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023. Lancet, 407(10543), 2040-2064. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(26)00519-2 Journal - Research Article

Spry, E. A., Aarsman, S. R., Dashti, S. G., McAnally, H., Greenwood, C. J., Guiney, H., … Kerr, J. A., … Theodore, R., Hancox, R. J., & Olsson, C. A. (2026). Childhood sexual abuse and maternal social and financial resources, mental health, and parenting outcomes in pregnancy and early parenthood: A multicohort observational study. Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women's Health. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/S3050-5038(25)00177-3 Journal - Research Article

Aarsman, S. R., Dashti, S. G., Le Bas, G., MacDonald, J. A., Greenwood, C. J., Hutchinson, D. M., … Kerr, J. A., … Spry, E. A. (2026). Parental care in adolescence and women's later postpartum psychosocial wellbeing: A 20-year prospective preconception cohort study. Archives of Women's Mental Health, 29, 13. doi: 10.1007/s00737-025-01641-7 Journal - Research Article

Foulds, J. A., Boden, J. M., Kerr, J. A., Douglas, K. M., Pettie, M., Young, J. T., … Donovan, K., & Porter, R. (2025). Long-term outcomes associated with adolescent ADHD symptomatology: Birth cohort study. British Journal of Psychiatry. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2025.10475 Journal - Research Article

Kerr, J. A., Husin, H. M., Leung, J., Dashti, S. G., Degenhardt, L., Ellul, S., … Olsson, C. A. (2025). The natural history of DSM-5 alcohol-use disorder from late adolescence to middle adulthood in Australia: A prospective cohort study. Lancet Public Health, 10(11), e923-e932. doi: 10.1016/s2468-2667(25)00225-7 Journal - Research Article

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