Melbourne
Neuropsychiatry
Centre
University of Melbourne and
Melbourne Health
NEWS ITEMS
Scroll down to find out more information about our news highlights
Check out the photos from the MNC end of year COVIDSafe catch up for 2020:
2020 AWARDS
Congratulations to the following researchers:
Professor Christos Pantelis was awarded an NHRMC Investigator Grant, in addition to being on the Clarivate Analytics list of Highly Cited Researchers for 2020.
Professor Ben Harrison was appointed as the Deputy Head of Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and received the SMHR Rising Star Award.
PhD COMPLETION
Cassie Wannan has recently completed her PhD oration, followed by the successful completion of her PhD - passed with no amendments. Supervised by Prof Christos Pantelis, Dr Cali Bartholomeusz and Dr Vanessa Cropley, Cassie's thesis is entitled:
"Neural underpinnings of episodic memory impairment across stages of schizophrenia-spectrum disorder"
Congratulations Dr Wannan!
MNC TRIVIA NIGHT
The inaugural MNC Trivia Night was held on Thursday 20th June 2019. The night was skillfully put together by the committee of the Students of Neuropsychiatry Research group, and was hilariously hosted by James Karantonis. There was food - including some impressive brain cupcakes thanks to student Georgia Caruana - laughter, teamwork, and touches of controversy aplenty throughout the evening.
Teams partook in four rounds of general trivia with some interesting questions - according to PhD student Laura Finlayson (a member of the winning team), the outcome relied on the knowledge of a musical instrument called the Hurdy Gurdy! Congratulations to the winning team.
Looking forward to continuing the trivia tradition in the coming years.
CHRIS PANTELIS'S ELECTION TO FELLOWSHIP OF THE
ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS
Professor Christos Pantelis, the Scientific Director of the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre and Consultant Psychiatrist with the North West Mental Health Network, was elected to Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych) in the United Kingdom at a ceremony held on 24 April 2019. His nomination was proposed by his colleague, Professor Paola Dazzan, with whom he has collaborated on various psychiatric neuroimaging research projects over many years.
During his distinguished career, Prof Pantelis has sought to elucidate the nature of progressive brain changes at psychosis onset (DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12323-9) and over the course of illness, including recent work on neuroinflammation, stress, cannabis and genes. His recent work has also examined the neurobiology of treatment-resistant schizophrenia and studies investigating the causes as well as management of severe side-effects of clozapine. Key to his election to Fellowship has been his mentorship of trainee psychiatrists, senior scientists, students and international fellows in various areas of psychiatry. He has been particularly successful at identifying and growing talented young researchers, with many becoming research and clinical leaders in neuropsychiatry.
Prof Pantelis is currently a Chief Investigator (CI) on multiple NHMRC-funded research grants, including a 5-year Program Grant commencing in 2019, in collaboration with co-CIs from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Arthur Christopoulos, Patrick Sexton) and the University of Queensland (Robert Parton). The goal of this work is to translate human findings to animal models and develop novel treatments, with a focus on treating cognitive deficits of neuropsychiatric disorders. Other recent work extends beyond psychosis in adolescence to earlier stages of development, by investigating childhood schizotypal disorder and differentiating this from Autism Spectrum Disorder. Prof Pantelis remains an active contributor to psychiatry at an international level and is sought after as a speaker and collaborator on international studies.
Pictured: Prof Pantelis receiving the award from Professor Helen Burn, the President of RCPsych.
