Jan Nicholson

Background

About Jan Nicholson

Jan M Nicholson BSc Hons, MSc, PhD, Psychology. Professor Nicholson was appointed as the Inaugural Roberta Holmes Professor in the Judith Lumley Centre at La Trobe University in 2014, tasked with the establishment of a new research program to build knowledge of the challenges facing contemporary parents and how parents can be supported across the lifecourse. Prior to this, she was the Research Director at the Parenting Research Centre in Melbourne (2011-2014). Professor Nicholson is also an Honorary Principal Research Fellow at Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI) and Adjunct Professor in the Centre for Learning Innovation at Queensland University of Technology. Professor Nicholson has a background in child and family psychology with post-doctoral training in public health. Her research examines the influence of contemporary family, social and organisational environments on children's healthy development, with a focus on vulnerable families. Her research expertise includes prospective cohort studies, randomised controlled trials, measurement development and validation, and implementation research. She has co-authored over 100 publications in peer reviewed journals, 4 research monographs and 10 book chapters. Her work has been cited over 1800 times and she has an h index of 22. Professor Nicholson was a member of the Research Consortium that established Australia’s first national longitudinal study of children and continues to have active design and advisory roles. She has established a national group of early career and senior researchers who work with the study to explore contemporary issues in parenting and child development.