Claire Brown is a Research Fellow in the Health & Wellbeing program at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) at La Trobe University. Her research focuses on mental health, suicide prevention, and barriers to care for autistic adults, with a particular focus on autistic people assigned female at birth (AFAB).

Claire completed her PhD at Deakin University in 2024, with her thesis examining the relationship between autism and eating disorders in women, including the distinct ways eating disorders present in autistic people, and how eating disorders contribute to delayed or missed autism identification.

As a Suicide Prevention Australia Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (2024-2026), Claire led the development of the Suicide Prevention for Autism Neuroaffirming Toolkit (span.toolkit): a co-produced, evidence-based resource portal supporting healthcare professionals to identify and respond to suicidal distress in autistic adults (www.spantoolkit.com).

Her current research extends this work into clinical and emergency care settings, with a focus on embedding co-produced and lived experience-led approaches to care across diverse health systems.