Rate My Professor Anton Isaacs

Dr. Anton Isaacs is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Rural Health at Monash University. A public health physician researcher, he earned his MBBS in Medicine from St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences in 1994, an MD in Community Health from the same institution in 2001, and a PhD in Mental Health Services from Monash University in 2011, titled “Improving mental health of Koorie men. A study of help seeking and mental health service response.” He currently serves as an Honorary Researcher at Northern Mental Health Service from 2025 to 2030 and accepts PhD students for projects on mental health services, including those for marginalised populations, digital mental health, tele-mental health, and suicide prevention.

Isaacs' research focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of mental health and wellbeing services to improve outcomes for people experiencing psychological distress and living with severe mental health challenges. His interests include mental health services research, models of care for severe mental illness, suicide prevention, primary mental health care, public mental health, and digital mental health models. Key initiatives include designing and implementing MAANASI, a rural mental health service in Karnataka, India; co-designing the Koori Men's Health Day for early detection among Aboriginal men; and supporting JEKKORA, an Aboriginal model for early identification and support of psychological distress and suicidal ideation in rural communities. Notable publications comprise "Unmet needs of carers of persons with severe mental health challenges" (2025), "The design and implementation of an innovative indicated suicide prevention service in Melbourne" (2025), "Care coordination for persons with mental health challenges: a scoping review" (2025), "Mental Health integrated models in primary care" (2024), "Qualitative study of Clinicians' and users' views of tele-mental health during COVID-19" (2023), and "Effectiveness of a care coordination service model for persons with severe mental health problems" (2019). He has authored 58 articles and co-edited a special issue on mental health services and suicide prevention for Indigenous people in Advances in Mental Health. Isaacs holds editorial roles as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Health Services and guest editor for Injury Prevention's suicide prevention issue. Awards include the Leon Piterman Early Career Researcher Publication Prize (2020), Early Career Researcher publication prize (2013), Award for Outstanding Contribution (2008), and Paul Harris Fellow (2006). He has spoken at the International Conference of the European Network for Mental Health Services Evaluation (2024) and World Congress of Social Psychiatry (2023).