Rate My Professor James Foulds

Associate Professor James Foulds holds the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch. He earned his MBChB from the University of Otago in 1996, completed specialist training in psychiatry in Melbourne in 2006, and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (FRANZCP) with a PhD. His doctoral research focused on alcohol-related psychiatric comorbidity. Since returning to Christchurch in 2008, he has served as a Consultant Psychiatrist in Christchurch and on the West Coast. He co-convenes fourth-year medical student teaching in addiction medicine and convenes postgraduate teaching in forensic mental health at the University of Otago. James Foulds is also Co-Director of the Christchurch Health and Development Study, with involvement since 2015 and directorship since 2023. Clinically, he works as a forensic psychiatrist, providing expert evidence in New Zealand jurisdictions including the Court of Appeal, High Court, and Coroner’s courts.

James Foulds' research specializations center on the epidemiology of alcohol use, particularly its comorbidity with mental health disorders, and the treatment of alcohol-related mental illnesses. His interests extend to the interface of mental health, substance use disorders, and criminal offending, with expertise in addictions including alcohol and methamphetamine, antidepressants, and forensic psychiatry. He has contributed significantly to the field through meta-analyses and systematic reviews. Key publications include 'Mental health outcomes associated with the use of amphetamines: A systematic review and meta-analysis' (2019), 'Depression in patients with alcohol use disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis of outcomes for independent and substance-induced disorders' (2015), 'A systematic review of risk factors for methamphetamine-associated psychosis' (2018), 'The role of novelty seeking as a predictor of substance use disorder outcomes in early adulthood' (2017), 'Dimensional personality traits and alcohol treatment outcome: a systematic review and meta-analysis' (2017), and 'Life-course trajectories of cannabis use: a latent class analysis of a New Zealand birth cohort' (2020). His scholarly work has amassed over 2,000 citations, influencing understandings of psychiatric comorbidities in substance use disorders.