Dr Getinet Yaya (published as Getinet Ayano) is a Research Fellow in the School of Population Health at Curtin University and an internationally recognised mental health epidemiologist and emerging research leader. His research focuses on improving the mental health, wellbeing and developmental outcomes of children, adolescents and young people, with expertise spanning child and adolescent mental health, addiction prevention, behavioural and digital health, neurodevelopment, maternal and child health, prevention science, implementation science and public health epidemiology.

His multidisciplinary research integrates epidemiology, evidence synthesis, implementation science, participatory co-design, consumer engagement and health economics to identify modifiable risk and protective factors and develop scalable, implementation-ready interventions that improve health outcomes and inform policy and practice.

Dr Yaya has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and 20 book chapters, with research published in leading journals including The Lancet, Nature Medicine, The BMJ, JAMA Psychiatry, JAMA Network Open, The British Journal of Psychiatry, and The Lancet Public Health. His research has been cited in more than 200 national and international policy and guideline documents and has contributed to policy and practice across more than 32 countries. His work has informed guidance developed by major organisations including the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), and UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Dr Yaya has secured more than A$2.5 million in competitive research funding, including more than A$350,000 as a Lead Investigator (CIA). His research programs span child and adolescent mental health, addiction prevention, behavioural and digital health, Long COVID, maternal and child health, neurodevelopment, implementation science and health equity.

Dr Yaya provides national and international research leadership through editorial, peer-review, supervision and mentoring roles. He serves on the editorial boards of BMC Medicine (Psychiatry Collection), BMC Psychiatry, BMC Public Health, Frontiers in Public Health, and NeuroMarkers (Elsevier) and is Lead Editor of the Springer reference book ADHD Across the Lifespan. He has also served as a grant reviewer and panel member for major national and international funding agencies, including the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Wellcome Trust, and Health Research Board (Ireland).

Dr Yaya is committed to developing the next generation of researchers through supervision, mentoring and research capacity building. He has co-supervised three PhD candidates to completion, supervised more than 15 MSc/MPH students, and currently supervises four PhD candidates. He holds HDR Supervisor Accreditation at Curtin University and actively mentors early- and mid-career researchers through multidisciplinary and international research collaborations.