Dr Marcela Radunz

I am a Research Fellow in Clinical Psychology with a research program focused on youth mental health, particularly the prevention and early intervention of disordered eating and behavioural addictions such as problematic technology use and social media engagement. I am currently involved in a range of projects exploring novel approaches to improving mental health outcomes for children and adolescents, including research on eating disorders, suicide and self-harm prevention, the development of a treatment program for video gaming disorder and the evaluation of school-based policy interventions such as mobile phone bans. I am also leading work aimed at improving screening practices for disordered eating in adolescents.

I am also a practicing clinical psychologist with extensive experience supporting children, adolescents, and their families across public and private settings, as well as working with eating disorder populations in both inpatient and outpatient settings. 

I completed my PhD under the supervision of Professor Tracey Wade, which focused on early intervention in eating disorders. My thesis explored barriers to help-seeking and evaluated the effectiveness of the emerge-ED early intervention strategy in primary health care. My work has been published in leading journals such as International Journal of Eating Disorders, Psychological Medicine, and European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. I am passionate about co-designing youth-centred interventions and improving access to evidence-based care for mental health concerns in children and young people.