For our youth and communities | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

UniSC addresses society’s most pressing mental health issues. We integrate world-class research, clinical services and education under one roof at the Thompson Institute, which helps us put research breakthroughs into practice quickly.

Everything we do is supported by neuroscience. This uncovers promising new insights into mental health and how it is linked to our brain structure and function.

From using cutting-edge neuroscience to help predict whether a young person will develop a mental illness, to the development of a national Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) centre that will deliver breakthrough research into the causes, impacts and treatments of PTSD, UniSC’s Thompson Institute is leading the way to a healthier tomorrow.

The teen years are an important, exciting and dynamic phase of life. During this time, the brain changes dramatically, so young people entering adolescence also experience significant physical, social and emotional changes. Together, these changes make teenagers especially vulnerable to mental health disorders.

To better support young people, our researchers founded LABS, a world-first, five-year research project at the Thompson Institute to better understand the adolescent brain.

LABS, which stands for “Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study”, tracks changes in the brain during adolescence, helping researchers gain a deeper understanding of the factors that affect teenage mental health.

This world-leading research will inform the development of evidence-based youth mental health programs to support young people and their families.

Learn more about LABS

We know suicide is a critical public health problem in Australia, and worldwide. It is the most preventable form of death, though preventing it can be complicated. That’s why UniSC researchers are working to prevent suicide through many, multi-level interventions.

This includes a community program called The Alliance for Suicide Prevention, that focuses on education and collaboration, as well as innovative research into the most promising interventions to treat suicidal tendencies.

UniSC researchers are behind a new global resource to support young people around the world, who they predict will feel the fallout of the COVID pandemic for years to come.

Our team has created an International Framework for School Health Promotion, as a tool for educators, parents and policymakers to address the growing, long-term educational and health crisis among children and teens as a result of the worldwide restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.