Dr Lou Farrer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Mental Health Research at The ANU. She currently holds an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) to examine how digital mental health interventions are used in clinical practice (2019-2023). Dr Farrer aims to use these and other data to develop guidelines to optimise the use of digital tools by practitioners in the Australian mental health care system.

Dr Farrer graduated with a PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2011. Her thesis examined the effectiveness of Internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy among users of Lifeline's crisis counselling service.

Dr Farrer's primary research interests are in the development, evaluation, and implementation of technology-based mental health programs. Her research has focused on conducting trials of automated, online therapy programs targeting depression and anxiety disorders. As a clinically-trained researcher, Dr Farrer is interested in the intersection of technology, clinical service delivery, and research, namely, exploring different methods of supporting users of digital interventions, examining factors that predict response and adherence to these programs, and investigating models of disseminating and implementing online interventions in different settings. She is also interested in the mental health of university students, having recently completed a project funded by the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre to develop and evaluate a virtual mental health clinic designed specifically for tertiary student populations (The Uni Virtual Clinic).