Members

Mental Health Research Institute (VIC)

Executive Director and Laureate Professor:
Professor Colin Masters
Chief Operating Officer:
Ms Lisa Keam

Principal Affiliations:
University of Melbourne
Principal Areas of Research:
Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegnerative diseases
Schizophrenia, bipolar mood disorder and related major psychoses
Substance abuse and mental illness co-mobidity
Major Current Research
Mechanism of neurotoxicity of a-beta amyloid protein, amyloid precursor protein (APP) structure and function
APP processing and reagent development, the role of genetic and environmental factors
Drug development and clinical trials, screening for dementia and pre-clinical diagnosis
Identification of genes and proteins in psychotic disorders through genomics/ proteomics, regulation of major molecular therapeutic targets and neurobiological actions of dopamine, serotonin, acetylocholine and GABA in psychotic disorders
Behavioural/ phenotypic analysis relevant to functional psychoses and dementia, molecular mechanisms and coping strategies in co-morbid psychiatric illness and substance abuse
Impact and mechanism of psychosocial treatment and collaborative therapy for people with a psychiatric illness