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Divya Mehta
Profile
Professor Divya Mehta
Professor Divya Mehta is an internationally recognised expert in genomics, stress biology, and mental health, based at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research investigates how early‑life environments, acute and chronic stress exposures, and social contexts shape biological pathways that influence mental health trajectories across the lifespan. By integrating genomics, epigenetics, transcriptomics, and environmental data, her work uncovers how stress “gets under the skin” to influence neurodevelopment, emotional regulation, and long‑term psychological outcomes.
With more than 120 peer‑reviewed publications, over $22 million in competitive research funding, and 25 major recognitions including Superstar of STEM, Professor Mehta’s work demonstrates that gene activity is dynamic and malleable. Her findings show that biological systems involved in stress, immunity, and neurodevelopment are profoundly shaped by early caregiving environments, family stress, trauma exposure, and protective factors such as social support and cultural identity.
Her research spans a wide range of populations, including children and adolescents, families experiencing adversity, veterans, emergency responders, university students, elite athletes, pregnant women, and Indigenous communities. This breadth allows her to map how stress‑related biological signatures emerge, persist, or recover across different developmental stages and sociocultural contexts. Her work with children and families, in particular, highlights how early stress exposures, intergenerational trauma, and family‑level resilience shape biological pathways that influence mental health risk and recovery.
Trained across four continents, including at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Professor Mehta brings a global, multidisciplinary perspective to understanding mental wellbeing. Her mission is to translate cutting‑edge biological science into clinically meaningful insights that help practitioners, families, and communities understand how biology and environment interact and how targeted interventions can shift developmental trajectories toward resilience.
Professor Divya Mehta is an internationally recognised expert in genomics, stress biology, and mental health, based at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research investigates how early‑life environments, acute and chronic stress exposures, and social contexts shape biological pathways that influence mental health trajectories across the lifespan. By integrating genomics, epigenetics, transcriptomics, and environmental data, her work uncovers how stress “gets under the skin” to influence neurodevelopment, emotional regulation, and long‑term psychological outcomes.
With more than 120 peer‑reviewed publications, over $22 million in competitive research funding, and 25 major recognitions including Superstar of STEM, Professor Mehta’s work demonstrates that gene activity is dynamic and malleable. Her findings show that biological systems involved in stress, immunity, and neurodevelopment are profoundly shaped by early caregiving environments, family stress, trauma exposure, and protective factors such as social support and cultural identity.
Her research spans a wide range of populations, including children and adolescents, families experiencing adversity, veterans, emergency responders, university students, elite athletes, pregnant women, and Indigenous communities. This breadth allows her to map how stress‑related biological signatures emerge, persist, or recover across different developmental stages and sociocultural contexts. Her work with children and families, in particular, highlights how early stress exposures, intergenerational trauma, and family‑level resilience shape biological pathways that influence mental health risk and recovery.
Trained across four continents, including at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Professor Mehta brings a global, multidisciplinary perspective to understanding mental wellbeing. Her mission is to translate cutting‑edge biological science into clinically meaningful insights that help practitioners, families, and communities understand how biology and environment interact and how targeted interventions can shift developmental trajectories toward resilience.
