A/Prof Tamsyn Van Rheenen
A/Prof Tamsyn Van Rheenen is a Principal Research Fellow and
head of the Mood - Psychosis Spectrum Sub-Stream at the MNC
A/Prof Van Rheenen completed her PhD at Swinburne University and then moved to the University of Melbourne to take up a prestigious NHMRC Early Career Fellowship. She is currently a Principal Research Fellow, Dame Kate Campbell Fellow, and Head of the Mood-Psychosis Spectrum Group at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre. Her research program aims to characterize cognitive impairments in severe psychiatric disorders, particularly bipolar disorder and psychosis, and understand their mechanisms and moderators.
Current Projects
Please find a list of currently recruiting studies HERE
The following PhD projects are also available:
If you would like to find out more about A/Prof Van Rheenen’s research, or are interested in Honours, Masters or PhD projects, please contact her at tamsyn.van@unimelb.edu.au.
Current Funding
(2023-2028) Al and Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship from the Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation
(2021-2024) Exploring the neuroprogressive hypothesis of cognitive deficits in bipolar disorder through the lens of accelerated ageing. Rebecca Cooper Medical Research Foundation
Select Publications
Van Rheenen TE, Cotton SM., Dandash O, Cooper RE, Ringin E, Daglas R, Allot K, Fornito A, Macneil C, Hasty M, Hallam K, Suo C, McGorry P, Yücel M, Pantelis C and Berk M. (2023) Evidence of increased cortical surface area but not altered cortical thickness in first episode mania. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 110687
Ringin E., Dunstan DW., McIntyre, R, Berk M., Owen N, Rossell SL., Van Rheenen TE (2023)
Karantonis J, Carruthers SP, Burdick, KE, Pantelis C, Green M, Rossell SL, Hughes M, Cropley V and Van Rheenen TE.(2023) Brain morphological characteristics of cognitive subgroups of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder: a systematic review with narrative synthesis. Neuropsychology Review, 33 192-220
Van Rheenen TE, Miskowiak K., Karantonis J, Furlong L., Murray G., Rossell S.L. (2022). Understanding familial liability for emotion regulation difficulties in bipolar disorder. Psychological Medicine, 52, 2614-2621
Karantonis, J. A., S. P. Carruthers, S. L. Rossell, C. Pantelis, M. Hughes, C. Wannan, V. Cropley and T. E. Van Rheenen (2021). A Systematic Review of Cognition-Brain Morphology Relationships on the Schizophrenia-Bipolar Disorder Spectrum. Schizophrenia Bulletin 47(6): 1557-1600.
Furlong L.S, Rossell S.L, Caruana, G.F, Cropley V.L, Hughes M, Van Rheenen T.E. (2021) The activity and connectivity of the facial emotion processing neural circuitry in bipolar disorder: a systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 279, 518-548.
Van Rheenen TE, Lewandowski KE, Bauer I, Kapczinski F., Miskowiak K., Burdick, KE, Balanza-Martinez, V. (2020). Current understandings of the trajectory and emerging correlates of cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder: an overview of evidence. Bipolar Disorders, 22:13–27
Van Rheenen T.E., Cropley VL., Wells R., Bruggemann J., Swaminathan V, Sundram S, Weinberg W., Jacomb I, Lenroot R, Pereira AM, Zalesky A, Bousman C, Shannon Weickert C, Weickert TW, Pantelis P. (2020) Cognitive Reserve Attenuates Age-Related Cognitive Decline in the Context of Accelerated Brain Ageing in Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders. Psychological Medicine, 50, 1475-1489
Karantonis J, Rossell S.L, Carruthers S, Sumner P, Hughes M, Green MJ, Pantelis C, Burdick K.E, Cropley V, Van Rheenen TE. (2020) Cognitive validation of cross-diagnostic cognitive subgroups on the schizophrenia-bipolar spectrum. Journal of Affective Disorders, 266, 710-721
Van Rheenen T.E., Lewandowski KE., Tan, E., Ospina, L., Ongur D, Malhotra A., Neill, E, Gurvich, E., Pantelis, C., Rossell SL., Burdick KE. (2017). Characterising cognitive heterogeneity on the schizophrenia – bipolar spectrum. Psychological Medicine, 47, 1848-1864
A full list of publications can be found HERE