Fiji 2026
Keli Koroi
National Suicide Prevention Officer for the Ministry of Health and Medical Services in Fiji
Keli Koroi (full name Lameka Keli Koroi) is stationed at the National Wellness Centre in Suva. Keli acts as a prominent public health advocate, clinical leader, and Fiji’s official IASP National Representative.
Dr Elizabeth Mati
Chief Executive, Le Va
Dr Mati is passionate about developing effective Pasifika interventions and solutions that enable Pasifika people to unleash their full potential. She is a registered clinical psychologist and has been working within Pasifika communities for over 15 years in educational, forensic and mental health settings.
In her previous roles as a DHB Manager and Clinical Psychologist for Pasifika mental health services, she supported the development and provision of culturally appropriate assessment and interventions for Pasifika young people, who often had sexual and violent trauma histories, and their families. I also had a focus on quality improvement and integrating services for child and adolescent mental health.
Leilani Fina’i Clarke
Senior Manager Suicide Prevention, Le Va
Leilani currently leads the FLO Talanoa suicide prevention education programme that aims to equip Pasifika families and communities with the right tools and information to prevent suicide.
She has 13 years’ experience within the New Zealand public sector, having worked for both the Ministry of Social Development and the Department of Corrections. Her strengths are in training strategy, planning, needs analysis and delivery for adult learners, having led the development and implementation of varying training initiatives on both a regional and national level.
Jeremaia Merekula
Team Lead, Lifeline Fiji
Meet Jeremaia Merekula, the driving force behind Lifeline Fiji. A member organisation of Lifeline International, which provides 24-hour access to suicide prevention services in a country with one of the highest suicide rates globally.
Under Jeremaia’s leadership, Lifeline Fiji has engaged 87,300 Fijians through outreach sessions, social media campaigns, and community mental health training. Jeremaia and the volunteers at Lifeline Fiji facilitate community workshops around the islands, and offer psychosocial support, crisis intervention, and telephone counselling. Their ongoing fundraising initiatives and a recent grant provided by LLI ensures the longevity of this vital work.
Professor Jo Robinson AM
IASP President & Head of Suicide Research, Orygen
Professor Jo Robinson leads the Youth Suicide Prevention Research Unit at Orygen, the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne. She is also Scientific Director of the Orygen Policy Centre.
Prof Robinson’s work focuses on the development, and testing, of novel interventions that specifically target at risk youth across settings, on evidence synthesis, and on the translation of research evidence into practice and policy.
Dr Jaelea Skehan OAM
Director, Everymind
Dr Jaelea Skehan is Director of Everymind, a leading Australian institute dedicated to the prevention of mental ill-health and suicide. She has over 25 years’ experience in mental health, suicide prevention and public health, with a focus on communication, media, and stigma reduction.
Jaelea was instrumental in the design of Australia’s Mindframe program, which provides evidence-based guidelines to support safe and responsible reporting of suicide and mental health issues, and supports a team implementing the guidelines across settings and supporting others in the Asia Pacific to apply learnings in the Australian context.
Margaret Eastgate
Counselling Practitioner
Margaret Eastgate is a Counsellor by profession and an active member of the National Committee on the Prevention of Suicide (NCOPS).
Professor Nicholas Procter
Academic Lead for Mental Health and Chair in Mental Health Nursing at Adelaide University
Professor Nicholas Procter currently serves as IASP National Representative for Australia, Co-Chair of the Council of National Representatives and Chair of Australia’s National Suicide Prevention Office Advisory Board.
He has longstanding research and clinical interests in personalised safety planning in community contexts to support people of migrant and refugee background, and for people presenting to emergency department settings.
Professor Lakshmi Vijayakumar
Founder, SNEHA & Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai
Dr Vijayakumar has been conferred the Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych), UK, for her work on suicide prevention, and has also been conferred FRCP (EDIN).
She was awarded the Ringel Service Award by IASP in June 2015. The International Association for suicide prevention has instituted an award in her name, the “Lakshmi Vijayakumar Rising Star Award”
Bronwen Edwards AM
CEO Roses in the Ocean
First and foremost, Bronwen brings her personal lived experience of suicide to the table, while also striving to honour the vast perspectives of others she has been privileged to work with and walk alongside over many years.
She is the founding CEO of Roses in the Ocean established in 2011, Australia’s national suicide specific lived experience organisation, originating from her drive and commitment to ensuring people with lived experience are central to suicide prevention.
Dr Anish V Cherian
Additional Professor, Psychiatric Social Work, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience (NIMHANS)
Dr Cherian is the lead of the N-SPRITE Centre at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru.
He serves as the SEAR Coordinator and IASP National Representative of India (2024–2027), member of the Institute Human Ethics Committee at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. His research interests include global mental health, self-harm, suicide prevention, and stigma.
Professor Jane Pirkis
Director of the Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
Professor Jane Pirkis has a background in psychology and epidemiology and has worked in the field of suicide prevention for about 30 years.
Much of her research has centred around the way in which people’s circumstances and environments confer risk for suicide. She is particularly well known for her research on suicide and the media which has not only looked at potential harms but also at the way in which the media can be used as a force for good in suicide prevention.
Associate Professor Jacinta Hawgood
Program Director of Suicidology at the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP)
Dr Hawgood is a recognised national and international expert in suicide prevention and education, and her clinical work in suicidology and clinical psychology spans 27 years.
Jacinta is the lead author of Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality protocol (STARS-p) (Hawgood & De Leo, 2015; 2018; 2024), and associated STARS-p training. Her primary research expertise is focused on psychosocial needs-based assessment and application, which developed over time including through her clinical work in suicide prevention.
Dr Sandersan Onie
President of the Indonesian Association for Suicide Prevention (INASP)
Dr Sandersan Onie is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Black Dog Institute, UNSW Sydney, Australia, and an Adjunct Professor at Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
As the lead for the Indonesian Suicide Prevention Strategy, he founded and is the President of the Indonesian Association for Suicide Prevention (INASP) and led the development and signing of the world’s first unified religious statement on mental health and suicide at the G20 2022 – an event for which he was awarded a Guinness World Record.
Dr Elise Carrotte
Research Fellow, Youth Suicide Prevention Reseach Unit, Orygen
Dr Carrotte has a background in public and mental health research, clinical psychology, and clinical governance, spanning academia and the non-profit sector.
She has a strong interest in innovative knowledge translation, social equity, and stigma reduction.
Professor Kairi Kõlves
Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University
Professor Kõlves has been involved in several Australian and international projects and has been an adviser to the World Health Organization since 2003. She is a member of national and international advisory committees. has worked in suicide research and prevention since 1998. Between 1999 and 2008, she worked at the Estonian-Swedish Mental Health and Suicidology Institute and joined AISRAP in 2008.
She has been involved in several Australian and international projects and has been an adviser to the World Health Organization since 2003. She is a member of national and international advisory committees.
Jemaima Tiatia-Siau
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Pacific), University of Auckland.
She is of Samoan heritage and has a population and community health background. She was one of six panellists on the New Zealand Government’s 2018 Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry and is currently a Board member for the inaugural Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission.
Her expertise lies in Pacific Studies, Pacific health, mental health and wellbeing, suicide prevention and postvention, health inequities, climate change, and youth development.
