Rate My Professor Daniel Hermens

Daniel Hermens is Professor of Youth Mental Health and Neurobiology, Deputy Director, and Program Coordinator for the Mental Health and Neuroscience Postgraduate Programs at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Thompson Institute. He earned a BSc from the University of Wollongong, a Graduate Diploma in Psychology and a PhD from the University of Sydney in 2006. A cognitive psychophysiologist specializing in the biological underpinnings of psychology, he leads the Youth Mental Health and Neurobiology research program, including the groundbreaking Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study (LABS). This world-first initiative tracks brain development during adolescence via regular brain imaging, psychological, and cognitive assessments to build a comprehensive data bank and identify early interventions for mental health disorders. His research encompasses neuroimaging studies on neurotransmitter dynamics and effects of glutamatergic agents like ketamine and alcohol, neurobiological factors in alcohol-induced impairments, and psychiatric and substance use disorders in youth, including depression, psychosis, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and schizophrenia. Daniel has conducted large-scale longitudinal cohort studies with multimodal datasets integrating neuropsychological and neuroimaging approaches.

With over 310 peer-reviewed publications in top journals such as BMC Medicine, Cortex, British Journal of Psychiatry, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Biological Psychiatry, and Human Brain Mapping, he has garnered more than 16,000 citations and an h-index of 68. His PhD research on neurophysiological markers in ADHD revealed sex-based differences in nervous system activity, influencing diagnosis and treatment; the two key publications ranked in the top 25 hottest articles of their journals. He has supervised over 40 higher-degree research students to completion and secured more than $7.4 million in grants. Awards include the 2023 Excellence in Graduate Research Supervision Award from the University of the Sunshine Coast, 2010 Early Career Investigator Award from the Australasian Schizophrenia Conference, and several University of Sydney prizes. Daniel serves as a nominated member of the NHMRC Women in Health Science committee (2022-2024) and delivers invited presentations at international conferences, high schools, children’s hospitals, and medical programs.