Rate My Professor Zoe Odering

Zoe Odering is a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Faculty of Medicine. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Otago in 2024, submitting a thesis titled 'Impact of activation therapy on cognition in inpatient depression,' supervised by Katie Douglas and others. Prior to her current role, which began in 2025, she served as a Research Assistant in the same department. Currently, she leads as Principal Investigator a CMRF-funded study assessing the feasibility and cultural appropriateness of a brief cognitive screening tool in a First Episode Psychosis early intervention service. Her career at the University of Otago reflects a commitment to advancing clinical research in psychiatric care.

Odering's research specializations focus on cognitive impairment in mood disorders, including major depression and bipolar disorder. Her investigations cover baseline predictors of cognitive change during inpatient treatment, the influence of childhood trauma on cognitive performance, effects of psychotherapies like activation therapy and cognitive remediation, and neurocognitive outcomes from interventions such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Key publications include 'Predicting Cognitive Change During Treatment for Inpatient Depression: Secondary Analysis From a Randomized Controlled Trial' (2025, co-authored with Jennifer Jordan, Katie M. Douglas, and Richard J. Porter), 'Impact of Activation Therapy for Inpatients With Major Depression: Primary and Secondary Outcomes From a Randomised Controlled Trial' (2025), 'Childhood Trauma and Cognitive Functioning in Mood Disorders: A Systematic Review' (2023), 'A meta-analytic investigation of cognitive remediation for mood disorders: Efficacy and the role of study quality, sample and treatment factors' (2023, with Katie M. Douglas, Jennifer Jordan, and Cameron Lacey), 'Baseline predictors of cognitive change in the treatment of major depressive episode: systematic review' (2020, BJPsych Open), and 'Psychotropic Medication Prescription Rates and Trends for New Zealand Children and Adolescents 2008–2016' (2019). Her contributions enhance understanding of cognitive mechanisms in psychiatric treatments and inform evidence-based practices.