Audrey McKinlay

Dr Audrey McKinlay is Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Canterbury having recently returned from the University of Melbourne in Victoria Australia in 2018 where she was Senior Lecturer in the Clinical Psychology training programme in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. As a registered psychologist in private practice Audrey also works with children and young people who have experienced Brain Injury and their families and is endorsed in Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology in both New Zealand and Australia. Audrey’s research expertise is in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) with a particular focus on early childhood injuries and the long term and adult outcomes of childhood mild TBI. Dr. McKinlay leads a number projects investigating outcomes for children and young people following TBI conducted in both New Zealand Australia USA and UK and holds adjunct research positions at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The University of Melbourne Melbourne Australia and Queens University Belfast UK. Collaborating with colleagues in the US and UK Audrey is also investigating the support needs of educators working with children who have experienced a TBI. Older people’s health is also a focus of Audrey’s research with a particular interest in TBI and Parkinson’s disease. Dr McKinlay has published extensively with a particular emphasis on the long-term outcomes of mild TBI experienced in early childhood. Using the world-renowned Christchurch Health and Development Study birth cohort Dr McKinlay has followed children for over 35 years being one of the first researchers to establish that not all childhood mild TBI is benign especially for those injured in the first five years of life. Dr McKinlay’s publications cover topics such as psychosocial outcomes substance abuse and offending behaviour as well as incidence public understanding and media and sports. Dr McKinlay is a founding board member for the International Paediatric Brain Injury Society.