Caroline Jane Bell is a New Zealand psychiatry academic, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in investigating the psychological impacts of trauma.
[3][4] Bell's research focuses on the psychological impacts of trauma, and is interested in the different outcomes that result for people after trauma, including distress and resilience, and how outcomes are influenced by factors such as people's culture, spiritual practices and religion.
[4] She has studied the effects of the Canterbury earthquakes, the Christchurch mosque attacks of 2019, and the COVID-19 lockdowns.
[5] Her research found that the lockdown experience was worse for people with pre-existing mental illness.
[6] Bell led the Canterbury District Health Board's response to mental health after the Christchurch earthquakes, and alongside Dr Ruqayya Sulaiman-Hill, she led a large Health Research Council-funded research collaboration between the Universities of Canterbury and Otago, and the Canterbury District Health Board, to investigate the physical and psychological effects of the mosque attacks, and to link survivors with support services.