People
Hub Director
- Professor Kim Felmingham
+61 3 8344 1523
k.felmingham@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Kim Felmingham
Professor Kim Felmingham is the Chair of Clinical Psychology at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and the Director of the Brain and Mental Health Hub. Professor Felmingham conducts research examining neurobiological and psychophysiological mechanisms underlying Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and examines the role of sex and stress hormones in fear extinction, memory consolidation and attentional processes. Specific research questions include examining the impact of stress and sex hormones, sleep and cognitive processes on emotional memory consolidation (intrusive memories), fear extinction, and treatment response in individuals with anxiety disorders and PTSD. The aim of this research is to lead to the development of more targeted and effective treatments for PTSD and anxiety disorders.
Hub Members
- Dr Litza Kiropoulos
+61 3 9035 4063
litzak@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Litza Kiropoulos
Dr Kiropoulos is a Senior Clinical Psychologist and the Director of the University of Melbourne Psychology Clinic. She and her lab members are interested in mood and anxiety disorders. Dr Kiropoulos and her lab members investigate the biological, psychological, social and cognitive mechanisms and processes involved in the development of affective and anxiety disorders. The research involves the investigation of these processes in both healthy adults and a range of clinical and medically ill groups. This knowledge is applied to develop and evaluate novel and innovative psychological interventions for mood and anxiety disorders and related issues in randomised controlled trials (including targeting various populations such as the medically ill, different cultural groups).
- Associate Professor Katherine Johnson
+61 3 8344 6349
kajo@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Katherine Johnson
Dr Johnson is a Developmental Cognitive Neuroscientist with an interest in attention and concentration. She and her lab members use a variety of methods to measure focus and attention control in infants, children, and adults. Her clinical research interests include measuring the cognitive and physiological differences associated with children and adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with typically developing children and adults. She and her lab members are interested in examining the effects of exposure to nature on mental well-being and concentration, and the development of memory and attention in infants.
- Dr Jacqueline Anderson
+61 3 8344 6362
jfande@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Jacqueline Anderson
Dr Anderson is a researcher in the area of clinical neuropsychology who specialises in abnormal cognitive functioning. She and her lab members use a combination of clinical and laboratory-based tools to investigate adult patient populations with neuropsychological disorders. Her research interests primarily relate to outcome after mild traumatic brain injury and stroke. In particular, she is focused on investigating the neuropsychological (cognitive, behavioural, psychological) and neuropathological aetiologies of individual patient variation in outcome after these events. She has a further specific interest in abnormalities of attention, executive function and subcortical cognitive networks in the context of neuropsychological disorders.
- Dr Christian Nicholas
+61 3 8344 3935
cln@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Christian Nicholas
Dr Christian Nicholas is a Research Fellow with a primary research focus of sleep and the mechanisms and consequences of sleep disruption His broad interests include, sleep measurement, cardio-respiratory physiology during sleep & wakefulness; sleep and ageing; sleep, alcohol and substance use and the cause and effects of sleep disruption on mental health. Dr Nicholas and his team conduct research into respiratory and cardiovascular aspects of sleep in the context of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (including role of upper airway muscle physiology, arousal from sleep and lung volume). They also research the effects of alcohol on sleep and memory in adolescence, fatigue/sleepiness in airline cabin crew, sleep and mental health, sleep and addiction, and sleep disruption and negative memory bias.
- Associate Professor Amy Jordan
+61 3 8344 6357
ajordan@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Amy Jordan
Assoc. Professor Jordan is a sleep researcher whose primary interest relates to improving mental and physical health via ensuring individuals and groups get adequate quality and quantity of sleep. Thus, her research involves assessing the impact of poor quality or low amounts of sleep on memory, mood, cardiovascular and metabolic variables. She also has an ongoing interest in the condition Obstructive Sleep Apnea and has held numerous grants to investigate both the causes, consequences and new treatments for this condition. More recently she has begun work investigating the relationship between sleep and post-traumatic stress disorder, with the aim of improving PTSD treatment, or even preventing the development of the condition after trauma exposure.
- Dr Scott Griffiths
+61 3 9035 3047
scott.griffiths@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Scott Griffiths
Scott co-leads the Physical Appearance Research Team (PART), a research group located in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne, with Dr Isabel Krug. Research by PART is uncovering the myriad ways that physical appearance manifests in our everyday lives, including the experience and perpetration of appearance-related discrimination (e.g., weight stigma and colourism), the use of appearance-enhancing substances and procedures (e.g., anabolic steroids and cosmetic surgeries), and the prevention and treatment of appearance-focused psychological disorders (e.g., eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorders). PART is currently running Gay Bodies Worldwide, a 5-year prospective study of body image phenomena among gay and bisexual men living in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Research by PART has attracted various awards and recognitions, including from the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian and New Zealand and North American Academies for Eating Disorders, the Australian Institute of Policy and Science, the Australian Psychological Society, the Association for Psychological Science, the Bauer Media Group, the Society for Mental Health Research, and the Universities of Melbourne and Sydney.
- Dr Isabel Krug
isabel.krug@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Isabel Krug
Dr Isabel Krug co-leads the Physical Appearance Research Team (PART) alongside Dr Scott Griffiths. Her main research focus is eating disorders, body image and eating pathology. Isabel's research focuses on a range of genetic, environmental, and psychological risk factors for eating pathology. Isabel is also interested in the effectiveness of new treatment modalities for individuals with eating pathology, including mindfulness, oxytocin, TMS, virtual reality and telemedicine. More recently Isabel and her team are using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to assess risk factors for eating pathology, including the effects of social media, fitbits and fasting during Ramadan on body image and eating behaviours.
- Dr Patrick Goodbourn
+61 3 9035 4404
p.goodbourn@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Patrick Goodbourn
Dr Patrick Goodbourn is a cognitive neuroscientist and geneticist. His research aims to understand how genes affect the structure and function of the brain, and how this in turn affects behaviour. His primary interest is in normal and disordered perceptual and psychomotor processes. Dr Goodbourn and the members of his Genes, Brain and Behaviour laboratory investigate the genetic basis of inter-individual variation in human visual and motor processing, incorporating both behavioural and electrophysiological assessments. He is also using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in zebrafish to characterise the behavioural, physiological, and anatomical consequences of human genetic associates of visual variation, particularly those also implicated in psychological disorder.
- Dr Chris Groot
+61 3 8344 9892
grootc@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Chris Groot
Dr Groot directs the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences’ Mental Illness Stigma Lab. He and his lab members conduct research focussing on the determinants and lived experience of stigma about severe and complex mental illness in particular. He also has a background in large scale mental health service delivery and has governed the clinical and research aspects of national services including the Suicide Call Back Service, SuicideLine Victoria, ATAPS All Hours Suicide Support Service, Beyond Blue Infoline, MensLine Australia, the Australian Defence Force All-Hours Triage Service, Vietnam Veterans After-Hours Counselling Service, and more.
- Associate Professor Christina Bryant
cbryant@unimelb.edu.au
Associate Professor Christina Bryant
Assoc. Professor Christina Bryant is the Convenor for the Clinical Psychology program at Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. Christina is an experienced clinician and educator, and has worked with the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Royal Women’s Hospital at the Centre for Women’s Mental Health. Her laboratory, M-PART, is a new collaboration between psychologists in Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and in the Academic Unit for the Psychiatry of Old Age (AUPOA). Her research interests include aging, mental health for older adults and health psychology. The principal theme of her research is the promotion of health and well-being in later life. Her publications have focused on topics such as attitudes to aging, mental health during the menopausal transition, the impact of a variety of physical disorders on mental health, and heart rate variability alterations in late life depression.
- Professor Lisa Phillips
03 9035 5922
lisajp@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Lisa Phillips
Professor Lisa Phillips is the Director of Professional Programs at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. Her research interests include treatment of youth mental health and psychosis, specifically the development of interventions for young people who are at ‘ultra’ high risk of the development of a psychotic disorder. She has also conducted research into topics as diverse as stigma, university student mental health and well-being, meaning of life and more.
- Dr Angie Jackman
03 9035 3398
arja@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Angie Jackman
Dr Angie Jackman is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Academic Specialist in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. She is motivated to investigate questions arising directly from clinical neuropsychological practice, and has specific interests in sleep disorders and in the early detection and management of neurodegenerative conditions. Previous publications have focused on sleep disordered breathing in young (pre-school) children and how this relates to cognitive, behavioural, and psychosocial outcomes for the child and family.
- Associate Professor Marta Garrido
marta.garrido@unimelb.edu.au
A/Prof Marta Garrido
Associate Professor Marta Garrido leads the Cognitive Neuroscience and Computational Psychiatry Laboratory at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, at The University of Melbourne, and is Chief Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function. Marta received her PhD in 2008 from University College London and did postdocs at University California Los Angeles and back at University College London. In 2013 she moved to the Queensland Brain Institute, at the University of Queensland, on a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award where she later established her independent laboratory. In mid 2019 the lab moved to the University of Melbourne. Marta's team uses a combination of brain imaging techniques and computational modelling to understand the neural underpinnings of learning and decision making both in typical individuals as well as in people with psychiatric disorders.
- Dr Trevor Steward
trevor.steward@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Trevor Steward
Dr Trevor Steward is a McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne and contributes to a partnership between the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre. His research is focused on using ultra high-field 7T MRI technology to understand how thalamic and midbrain nuclei contribute to psychopathology. He has worked with a wide range of patient populations and his aim is to leverage neuroimaging tools to deliver treatments that target core symptoms across psychiatric disorders.
- Dr Natalia Egorova-Brumley
negorova@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Natalia Egorova-Brumley
Dr Natalia Egorova-Brumley is a cognitive neuroscientist with a research interest in the neurobiology of language and pain. She is also a clinical neuroimager interested in depression, aging and stroke. In her work she uses various neuroimaging tools and methods (EEG, MEG, fMRI, NIRS, tDCS) to investigate brain network states and dynamics. Currently, she is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow based at the Melbourne University School of Psychological Sciences. She also holds an Honorary appointment at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge / Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, followed by postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School and the University of Geneva.
- Dr Nienke Zomerdijk
nienke.zomerdijk@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Nienke Zomerdijk
Dr Nienke Zomerdijk is the inaugural Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psycho-Oncology jointly appointed between the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre. . She holds a PhD in Psycho-Oncology, obtained from the University of Queensland (2019), carried out within the haematology and stem cell transplant departments of the RBWH and Westmead Hospital in Sydney. Dr Zomerdijk is interested in the psychological issues faced by people with cancer and their family/carers, particularly those with haematological malignancies. Recently she has begun work investigating: * experiences, perspectives and views of Transplant Physicians regarding palliative and supportive care provision for haematopoietic stem cell transplant patients *perspectives of bereaved caregivers of patients with haematological malignancies concerning home-based care and death *the psychosocial needs and experiences of patients with haematological malignancies and health professionals during COVID-19 *knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of cancer among healthy adolescents and young adults
- Dr Miriam Mosing
miriam.mosing@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Miriam Mosing
Dr Miriam A. Mosing is a Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne School of Psychological Science under the DRM scheme and an Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Neuroscience Department at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Dr. Mosing and her team investigate individual differences in (1) expertise acquisition and (2) quality of life throughout the lifetime and in the aged, using interdisciplinary approaches to understand how our genetic predispositions interplay with environmental factors (including social isolation, stress, traumatic life experiences, and different leisure and cultural activities).
Dr Genevieve Rayner
+61 3 9035 7045
raynerg@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Genevieve Rayner
Genevieve is a practicing clinical neuropsychologist and lecturer in clinical neuropsychology at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. As a clinician-scientist, she balances her clinical and academic work with her role as a senior neuropsychology research fellow in a world-leading epilepsy research genetics group at the Epilepsy Genetics Research Program. Her program of research aims to explore the neurobiological and psychosocial underpinnings of mood and cognitive disorders in epilepsy and other neurological conditions, using behavioural, neuroimaging, and genetics methodologies.
Dr Margaret Osborne
+61 3 9035 3503
mosborne@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Margaret Osborne
Margaret holds an interdisciplinary appointment with both the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. Her desire to support the mental and physical health needs of artists to achieve optimal performance and sustainable careers has seen her develop new curricula in performance psychology, serve as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Psychology Performance Science, past-President of the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare, and maintain a consulting psychology practice.
Dr Caitlin Hitchcock
caitlin.hitchcock@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Caitlin Hitchcock
Dr Hitchcock is a clinical psychologist with clinical and research expertise in affective disturbance. Her research program seeks to translate basic cognitive science toward improved treatment practices, by advancing understanding of the cognitive mechanisms that drive mood disturbance and posttraumatic stress, and drawing from experimental cognitive science to develop novel therapeutic interventions.