Sunny Collings
New Zealand psychiatrist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Catherine Diane Collings, known as Sunny, is a New Zealand psychiatrist and health executive, and was a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in suicide prevention. She was chief executive of the Health Research Council of New Zealand, before being appointed in 2025 to lead the Health Quality and Safety Commission.
- Informal carers of people with schizophrenia in New Zealand: their health, circumstances and adjustment.[1] (2006)
University of Otago
Health Research Council of New Zealand
Sunny Collings | |
|---|---|
Collings in 2025 | |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Otago |
| Thesis |
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| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Victoria University of Wellington University of Otago Health Research Council of New Zealand |
Doctoral students | Felicity Goodyear-Smith |
Academic career
Collings completed a medical degree at the University of Otago, graduating in 1984.[2] She worked as a general practitioner and completed psychiatric training at the Maudsley Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital in London, where she studied bulimia nervosa with Professor Michael King.[2][3] Collings also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health (with Distinction) and a PhD, both from Otago.[2] Collings joined the faculty of the University of Otago as a senior lecturer in 1991, rising to full professor in 2011.[4][5] She has also supervised doctoral students in the School of Health at Victoria University of Wellington and at the University of Auckland. One of her notable doctoral students is Felicity Goodyear-Smith.[6][7] Collings is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.[8]
Collings's research focuses on mental health, self-harm and suicide prevention, although she has also published on other topics such as ethics and food security.[3][5][9] She is a board member of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission.[10][11] Collings was an expert adviser on an inquest into the deaths of four teenage girls in Flaxmere.[12]
Collings was Dean and Head of Campus at the University of Otago, Wellington for nine years.[13] In 2019 she was appointed as the chief executive of the Health Research Council.[8][13] In July 2025 she was appointed CEO of Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission.[14][15]
Selected works
- Blakely TA; Collings SC; Atkinson J (1 August 2003). "Unemployment and suicide. Evidence for a causal association?". Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 57 (8): 594–600. doi:10.1136/JECH.57.8.594. ISSN 0143-005X. PMC 1732539. PMID 12883065. Wikidata Q35412742.
- Sarah K McKenzie; Sunny Collings; Gabrielle Jenkin; Jo River (28 April 2018). "Masculinity, Social Connectedness, and Mental Health: Men's Diverse Patterns of Practice". American Journal of Men's Health. 12 (5): 1247–1261. doi:10.1177/1557988318772732. ISSN 1557-9883. PMC 6142169. PMID 29708008. Wikidata Q64330255.
- Kristie N Carter; Kerri Kruse; Tony Blakely; Sunny Collings (8 April 2011). "The association of food security with psychological distress in New Zealand and any gender differences". Social Science & Medicine. 72 (9): 1463–1471. doi:10.1016/J.SOCSCIMED.2011.03.009. ISSN 0277-9536. PMID 21481507. Wikidata Q50110270.
- Airini; Sunny Collings; Lindsey Conner; Kathryn McPherson; Brenda Midson; Cheryl Wilson (8 December 2010). "Learning to Be Leaders in Higher Education: What Helps or Hinders Women's Advancement as Leaders in Universities". Educational Management Administration & Leadership. 39 (1): 44–62. doi:10.1177/1741143210383896. ISSN 1741-1432. Wikidata Q58761152.
- Beautrais, Annette L; Collings, Sunny; Ehrhardt, P; Henare, K (2005). Suicide Prevention: A review of evidence of risk and protective factors, and points of effective intervention (Report). Ministry of Health. Retrieved 13 August 2025.