Jehannine Austin
Born
London, England, UK
Academic background
EducationBSc, Biochemistry, University of Bath
PhD, Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 2001, University of Wales College of Medicine
MSc, University of British Columbia
ThesisOptimisation of DHPLC and the study of Candidate Genes for Schizophrenia
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of British Columbia

Jehannine Claire Austin FCAHS is a Canadian neuropsychiatric geneticist and a genetic counselor. They are a professor at the University of British Columbia and Executive Director of the Provincial Health Services Authority's BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services Research Institute. In 2012, Austin founded the world’s first specialist psychiatric genetic counselling service.

Early life and education

Austin was born in London, England, but raised in Swansea, Wales.[1] They graduated from Bishop Gore School in 1993[2] and enrolled at the University of Bath.[3] Following their undergraduate degree, Austin completed their PhD in neuropsychiatric genetics from the University of Wales College of Medicine. They then travelled to North America to complete their Master of Science degree in genetic counselling at the University of British Columbia (UBC).[4]

Career

Following their training, Austin became an assistant professor of psychiatry at UBC in 2007.[5] During their early tenure at UBC, Austin received the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator Award[6] and a Scholar Award from the Michael Smith Health Research BC Foundation.[7] In 2010, Austin was appointed a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Translational Psychiatric Genetics to assist in their research for developing new counseling-based treatments and biologically based treatments for people with mental illness and their families.[8] One of their first actions as a CRC involved creating the world’s first specialist psychiatric genetic counselling service (Adapt Clinic). Within the first year of the program, Austin co-counselled over 250 people.[9] They also received the inaugural Psychiatry Research Award from Pfizer Canada to support their "research into the effect of genetic counseling on adherence to psychotropic medication in serious mental illness."[10] By 2014, their program provided services to over 300 families across British Columbia and branched out into the United States and the United Kingdom.[11] As such, Austin received the 2013 International Leadership Award and became the first non-American president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors.[12]

In July 2016, Austin was appointed the Acting Head of UBC's Department of Psychiatry until December 31, 2016.[5] While serving in this role, Austin was one of seven UBC faculty members named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. They were specifically recognized for "pioneering genetic counseling research, showing that genetic counseling has meaningful benefits for people with psychiatric disorders and their families."[13] Upon stepping down as Acting Head of UBC's Department of Psychiatry, Austin was appointed the Executive Director of the Provincial Health Services Authority's BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services Research Institute.[4] In this role, Austin oversees mental health and substance use professionals across the province and focuses on many different facets of mental health and substance use beyond genetic counselling.[14] Their efforts into "influencing health services worldwide " were recognized in 2017 with an election to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.[15]

In 2019, Austin was featured in a documentary about former Labour Party member Alastair Campbell. In the documentary, Campbell spoke openly about his depression with Austin, who used a "jam jar" analogy to explain how genetic and environmental factors influence mental illnesses.[16] They also received the 2019 Dr. Samarthji Lal Award for Mental Health Research for their work in genetic counselling.[17] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Austin was the co principal investigator on a study entitled "Impact of social determinants of mental health on child and parent risk, resilience and support access in the COVID-19 era: A nested mixed-methods study of short and long-term outcomes."[18]

Selected publications

  • How to Talk with Families About Genetics and Psychiatric Illness (2011)[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Jehannine Austin". The Science Runway. Archived from the original on December 16, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  2. ↑ @J9_Austin (May 23, 2018). "Sometimes, the world feels very small. In the #UBCgrad procession today, I met fellow @UBC faculty member Olav Slaymaker. He grew up a few streets from me in Swansea, South Wales, & we both graduated from the same high school (Bishop Gore: him '58, me '93). Both #1stgenacademic" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ "Jehannine Austin". BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Dr. Jehannine Austin to strengthen mental health and substance use research". BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services. December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Dr. Jehannine Austin begins her term as Acting Department Head". University of British Columbia. July 8, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  6. ↑ "2007 Career Investigator Awards". The Vancouver Sun. November 7, 2007. Retrieved December 16, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Jehannine Austin". Michael Smith Health Research BC. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  8. ↑ "UBC gains $20M in 29 Canada Research Chairs". University of British Columbia. December 1, 2010. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  9. ↑ Crawford, Tiffany (December 17, 2013). "Program empowers those touched by mental illness". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved December 16, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Jehannine Austin receives Pfizer Psychiatry Research Award". University of British Columbia. May 16, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Jehannine Austin, Medical Genetics". University of British Columbia. October 9, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Jehannine Austin elected President of National Society of Genetic Counselors". University of British Columbia. June 26, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Jehannine Austin named member of the Royal Society of Canada". University of British Columbia. September 13, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Research leader helping transform mental health and substance use care across B.C." BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services. May 9, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Congratulations & Welcome to our 2017 Fellows!" (PDF). Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. September 2017. p. 1. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  16. ↑ Newall, Sally (October 5, 2021). "Could looking at your life like a jam jar improve your mental health?". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Research director receives prestigious award for genetic counselling work". BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services. July 11, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  18. ↑ "BCCHR researchers awarded CIHR funding to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic impacts on children, youth and families". BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. January 13, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  19. ↑ Coors, Marilyn E. (September 1, 2011). "Review: How to Talk with Families About Genetics and Psychiatric Illness". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 168 (9): 994–995. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.11030476. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
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