08/06/2026
Congratulations to Tourette's Australia Board Member Professor Valsamma Eapen AO, on being appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), in the 2026 Kings Birthday Honours List.
Professor Eapen is a long-term supporter of people with Tourette's, Tic Disorders and their families. We could not think of a more worthy recipient. Listed below are the achievements of Professor Valsamma Eapen AO
For distinguished service to psychiatry, to child and adolescent mental health, to neurodevelopmental
research, and to tertiary education.
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
• Chair, Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, current.
• Chair, New South Wales Branch, Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, current.
• Member, Committee for Evidence Based Practice, current.
• Member, Subspecialty Advanced Training Sub-Committee in Child, Adolescent and Family
Psychiatry, New South Wales Branch, current.
• Fellow, since 2007.
South West Sydney Local Health District
• Head, Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry, since 2008.
• Director, BestSTART Child Health Unit, current.
University of New South Wales
• Chair, Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, since 2008.
• Board Member, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, current.
• Former Member, Medicine Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
• Member, Steering Committee, Australian Mental Health Prize, since 2016.
• Scientia Professor, since 2024.
• Professor, School of Clinical Medicine, since 2008.
International Neuropsychiatric Association
• President, current.
• Member, Executive Committee, current.
Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC)
• Director, Early Years Program, 2017-2022.
• Member, Access Committee, Australian Autism Biobank, current.
• Lead Researcher, 2013-2022.
Research Centres
• Co-establisher and Director, Supporting Child and Family Health for Priority Populations Centre of
Research Excellence (STAR-CRE), current.
• Stream Director, Early Life Determinants of Health Clinical Theme, Sydney Partnership for Health
Education Research and Enterprise (SPHERE), current.
• Former Member, Executive Committee, Transition Care Network, Agency for Clinical Innovation.
• Member, Childhood Adversity and Mental Health Centre of Research Excellence, 2019-2023.
• Former Member, Project Advisory Panel, Centre for Digital Wellbeing.
National Guidelines
• Member, Advisory Group for the ‘National Guidelines for Wellbeing Indicators in Early Childhood
Health Checks’, 2025.
• Member, Project Team for development and update of the ‘National Guideline for the Assessment
and Diagnosis of Autism in Australia’, 2018 and 2023.
• Member, Development Group for National ADHD Guideline, 2022.
• Member, Project Team for development of the ‘National Guideline for Supporting the Learning,
Participation and Wellbeing of Autistic Children and their Families in Australia’, 2022.
Honours list: The King's Birthday 2026 Honours List 18 of 66 Advisory Roles
• Member, Children’s Expert Advisory Group, National Disability Insurance Agency, since 2024.
• Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, current.
• Member, Starlight Health Professional Advisory Board, current.
• Member, Advisory Working Group, NSW Health, ADHD Reform, current.
Other
• Founding Member, Australasian Society for Autism Research, 2011.
• Medical Publicity and Liaison Officer, Tourette Syndrome Association Australia, current.
• Lead, Neurodevelopmental Disorders Stream, Growing Minds Australia
• Member, Research Committee, Australian Rotary Health, current.
• Member, Parenting and Family Research Alliance, current.
• Mentor, Franklin Women Mentorship Program, 2014.
• Former Board Member, Karitane.
• Former Foundation Member, National Clinical Trial Network in Child and Youth Mental Health.
•
International Roles
• Board Member, World Psychiatric Association, current.
• Member, Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation Genetics Collaborative, Centre for Human Genetic
Research, Harvard Medical School, USA, current.
• Member, Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, current.
• Member, Homozygosity Mapping Collaborative for Autism, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA,
current.
• Member, Executive Committee, International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and
Allied Professionals, current.
• Former Member, Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment Consortium.
• Former Member, International DEPRESSD Collaboration on the classification of Major Depression.
• Fellow, Royal College of Psychiatrists, United Kingdom, since 2005.
Awards and Recognition include:
• Fellow, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, 2025.
• Honorary Distinguished Fellow Award, Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, 2023.
• Senior Researcher Award, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry, 2023.
• Value in Action Award, University of New South Wales, 2021.
• Lady Fairfax AC OBE Distinguished Researcher Award, 2020.
• Distinguished Research Prize, South West Sydney Clinical School, 2018.
• Leslie Kiloh Award for best publication by Academic Staff, School of Psychiatry, University of New
South Wales, 2015.
• IGPI Award for outstanding contribution, Indian Global Psychiatric Initia
