Rate My Professor Lana Cleland

Lana Cleland serves as Assistant Research Fellow in the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago, Christchurch, part of the Health Sciences Division. Previously, she held the position of Assistant Research Fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the same university from May 2020 to June 2023. As a clinical psychologist with an MSc, Cleland's research centers on population health, with a focus on substance use disorders, mental health outcomes, suicide prevention, eating disorders, and body image issues in Aotearoa New Zealand. She contributes to the Christchurch Health and Development Study and collaborates across departments on interdisciplinary projects.

Cleland's key research projects include 'The relationship between alcohol and suicide in Aotearoa New Zealand,' funded by the Oakley Mental Health Foundation from 2021 to 2024, examining alcohol use disorder, acute intoxication, and suicide risk; and 'Drug and alcohol harms in Aotearoa New Zealand,' funded by the Health Research Council and University of Otago from 2021 to 2024, which incorporates a multi-criteria drug harms ranking study. Her publications encompass 'Eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image research in New Zealand: a scoping review' (Journal of Eating Disorders, 2023, with Hannah L. Kennedy and Michaela A. Pettie); 'The New Zealand drug harms ranking study: A multi-criteria decision analysis' (Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2023, with Rose Crossin, Chris Wilkins, Marta Rychert, Simon Adamson, and others); 'Changes in alcohol-related emergency department presentations—a comparison of three waves in 2013, 2017 and 2022' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2024, with Laura R. Joyce and others); 'The association between alcohol use disorder and suicidal ideation in a New Zealand birth cohort' (Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2022, with Rose Crossin, Geraldine F.H. McLeod, Annette Beautrais, and Joseph M. Boden); 'Childhood maltreatment and the menopause transition in a cohort of midlife New Zealand women' (Menopause, 2022, with Geraldine F.H. McLeod); and 'Sex-specific analysis of acute alcohol use in suicides and reporting of alcohol as a contributor to suicide deaths in New Zealand' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2024). Her work on Google Scholar has garnered 275 citations, contributing to evidence on public health interventions and policy in New Zealand.