Links To Organisations in Australasia Conducting Psychiatric Research

http://www.med.monash.edu.au/spppm/research/aprc/

The Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (APRC), located at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, conducts clinical research with people who suffer severe mental illnesses including Schizophrenia, Depression and Bipolar Affective Disorder. Projects utilise a range of research methodologies and techniques such as trials of novel treatments, brain imaging and neurostimulation, outcomes research, and investigations of psychosocial factors associated with illnesses. Projects are funded from competitive grants, contract research via industry partnerships and fundraising activities. Located at The Alfred Hospital, the APRC is completely integrated within The Alfred Psychiatry Service and is a part of the School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine at Monash University. The APRC is led by Professor Jayashri Kulkarni. (June 2005)

Australian Transcultural Mental Health Network
http://www.atmhn.unimelb.edu.au

Headed by Professor Michael Berk the Barwon Psychiatric Research Unit is located at Barwon Health in Geelong. Its proximity to Melbourne means that it is closely linked to some of the best known research and academic institutions in the country, while having the lifestyle advantage of the Surf-Coast and rural and regional Victoria. Research projects have focused on Bipolar Disorder and many other fields of psychiatry research are also being pursued, including basic science, pharmacotherapies, psychotherapies epidemiology and clinical research. Researchers at the Barwon Psychiatric Research Unit are always keen to discuss collaborations with other research groups. The unit is an integral part of the Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences - Barwon Health, University of Melbourne, and welcomes enquiries from anyone considering postgraduate studies (Hons, PG Dip or PhD). Employment opportunities arise occasionally and are advertised through the University of Melbourne. (June 2005)

The Brain Dynamics Centre is a world leader in inter-disciplinary brain and mental health research and is part of the Westmead Millennium Institute at Westmead Hospital, as well as the University of Sydney and affiliations to University of NSW.

The Centre is involved in numerous mental health research programs focusing on the development of better diagnostic techniques, treatments and healthcare strategies. (Feb 2007)

The Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry (CCRN) is a joint initiative between the University of Western Australia School of Psychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences, Graylands Hospital, and the WA Department of Health. At CCRN, we apply the dual arms of clinical research (including molecular genetics, neurocognitive and other neuropsychological, electrophysiological and pharmacological research) and risk factor epidemiology (using population-based surveys and record linkage methodology) to the study of serious mental illness. Schizophrenia and related conditions is the principal, but not the exclusive focus of this research effort. Other areas of interest include: autism; intellectual disability; affective disorders; criminal offending in mental illness; and animal models of psychosis. The WA Family Study of Schizophrenia is one of the most thoroughly characterised collections of families with schizophrenia and community controls which aims at the discovery of novel genes and pathogenic mechanisms. The Director of CCRN is Professor Assen Jablensky. (June 2005)

The Dementia Collaborative Research Centres have just launched their website which provides useful information on collaborative Dementia Research, the National Dementia Research Forum, PhD Scholarships and more. (April 2007)

It is now ten years since NISAD commenced operations as a largely NSW based research institute. In that time the organisation has grown to include over 150 Australian clinicians and scientists actively collaborating on a range of schizophrenia research initiatives. The past year has seen the institute initiate the Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank, which aims to provide a resource of over 4,000 samples of linked genetic, neuroanatomical and clinical
information from people with schizophrenia and controls for Australian and international researchers.
In addition, we have also recruited Professor Cyndi Shannon Weickert from the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the USA to take up the position of Australia's first Professor of Schizophrenia Research, in the field of developmental neurobiology.
These important milestones have also provided an opportunity to reconsider our name and logo. Our Board has decided that we will now be known as the Schizophrenia Research Institute. We have chosen this name as it very simply and accurately represents the aim of the institute – to find the means to prevent and cure schizophrenia through scientific research. It is important to note that the Schizophrenia Research Institute’s focus remains on infrastructure development, using a network model (i.e. supporting research at individual host institutions). The Institute does not fund specific projects.
We hope you agree this is a positive change. The map of Australia, amongst other things, neatly
represents the research collaborations that we have developed across State boundaries and the
extent of our virtual network. Its also symbolises the breadth of the problem we are trying to
unravel.
If you have any questions please contact Prof. Vaughan Carr (v.carr@schizophreniaresearch.org.au)or Daren Draganic
(d.draganic@schizophreniaresearch.org.au)
(Mar 2007)