Name: Professor Jayashri Kulkarni, AM

Specialty: Psychiatrist 

Country: Australia

Professor Jayashri Kulkarni AM is a world-renowned Australian psychiatrist, clinical researcher and pioneer in the field of women’s mental health. As the Director of HER Centre Australia and the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc), Professor Kulkarni has spent over three decades leading groundbreaking research into how sex steroids and reproductive hormones directly influence brain chemistry, mood and psychiatric health throughout a woman's lifespan.

Widely recognised as a global authority on perimenopausal depression and anxiety, Professor Kulkarni’s work has transformed how the medical community understands midlife psychiatric distress. She has consistently challenged traditional psychiatric models, which often misdiagnose hormone-driven mood changes as clinical depression or life stress, advocating instead for a "gender-lens" approach to mental health. Her world-first research has demonstrated how fluctuating oestrogen levels affect neurotransmitter systems in the brain, paving the way for innovative treatments such as hormone-modulated therapies to treat severe midlife mood disorders.

Beyond her research breakthroughs, Professor Kulkarni is a passionate advocate for systemic reform in healthcare. She was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2019 for her contributions to medicine and established Australia's first women-only mental health hospital at Cabrini Health in 2021. Through her frequent appearances in national media, medical symposia and clinical education, Professor Kulkarni continues to dismantle taboos, ensuring women navigating the complex psychological transitions of perimenopause are validated, accurately diagnosed and treated with compassionate, hormone-informed care.

Session: Loss of identity

Interviewer: Amelia Lester, Out Loud host

Expect: Scientific-backed information about rage, anxiety and depression.