A Culturally Appropriate Approach To Improve Mental Health Outcomes In Sri Lanka And China: Mental Health First Aid
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,161,042.00
Summary
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training has an established track record in high-income countries of improving knowledge, attitudes and behaviours in relation to people with mental health problems. However, appropriateness of the course content and implementation models in middle-income countries is unknown. This project provides a unique opportunity to develop and pilot culturally appropriate MHFA training to improve population mental health in middle-income countries.
The Pubertal Onset Of Mental Disorders And Early Substance Abuse
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,118,072.00
Summary
Mental disorders and early substance abuse are the most important health problems affecting adolescents and young adults in Australia, yet we have no preventive interventions for mental disorders with strong and sustained effects. Around one half of all mental disorders begin at puberty. This proposal outlines plans for the first study to comprehensively study the onset of mental disorder at this time. It will lay a foundation for the next generation of prevention studies.
Building The Evidence Base For Prevention And Recovery Care Services
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,903.00
Summary
This project involves seven inter-related studies designed to evaluate the appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of Victoria's Prevention and Recovery Care Services (PARCS), which are residential services for people with severe mental disorders. The project represents a partnership between universities, PARCS providers, clinical services and the Victorian Government, and will actively engage service users and their carers and other experts
PRE-EMPT: Prediction Of Early Mental Disorder And Preventive Treatment - Centre Of Research Excellence
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,500,000.00
Summary
Mental health clinicians currently do not have the means to predict which young people with emerging symptoms are most at risk of progressing to serious mental illness. This CRE will help us better understand how mental illnesses develop, identify the risk and protective factors, and introduce tools for use in clinical practice to better predict onset of serious mental illness. This will help with providing and further developing early treatments to delay or prevent the onset of mental illness.
Evidence-based Mental Health Planning: Translating Evidence Into Policy And Services
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,442,370.00
Summary
The CRE will design a better mental health system for Australia. This service system will include the full range of prevention and treatment interventions using the best available scientific evidence. It will also describe how to ensure that the service system is implemented, by incorporating it into government policy. The work will be carried out across 5 of the best research centres in Australia with expertise in clinical medicine, epidemiology, service planning and implementation science.
Brain Stimulation Therapeutics For Mental Health Disorders: From Concept To Clinical Application
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,116,312.00
Summary
This fellowship application will support a program of research to develop and expand the use of a number of forms of non-invasive brain stimulation. These will be used to dramatically enhance the range of therapeutic options available for patients with common mental health conditions such as depression. This will include trials to advance the application of existing treatments, develop a fundamentally new home based device therapy and support a new clinical trials network.
Preconception Predictors Of Health, Behaviour And Emotional Adjustment At Seven Years
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,170,830.00
Summary
An understanding of the importance of a healthy start to life has underpinned major health policies including Australia’s National Agenda for Early Childhood. The capacity of parents to provide that healthy start has received little study. The present project investigates the extent to which parental lifestyle, social and emotional adjustment prior to conception predictor emotional problems, disruptive behaviour and health in their children at seven years.
Reconceptualising Neurophysiological Biomarkers Of Schizophrenia: An Investigation Of The MMN/P3a Complex In Early Psychotic Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$46,733.00
Summary
I am measuring a brain response to subtle changes in the environment called �mismatch negativity�. MMN indexes fundamental sensory processes that help the brain focus on certain information and ignore other information. MMN is consistently impaired in patients with Schizophrenia and is thought to be a biomarker of this illness. I am assessing MMN in the very early stages of psychosis to determine its specificity and whether it predicts illness trajectory.
Anti-Estrogens - A Potential Treatment For Bipolar Affective Disorder In Women?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$239,250.00
Summary
Bipolar Affective Disorder (BPAD) or Manic-Depressive Illness is a serious mental illness with high morbidity and mortality. The cause of the illness is still unclear and the underlying neurochemical changes are different for the manic phase compared with the depressive phase. The current treatments for BPAD are limited in scope and not biochemically well understood. There are gender differences in the presentation and outcomes for BPAD which adds to the complexity of the illness. We are proposi ....Bipolar Affective Disorder (BPAD) or Manic-Depressive Illness is a serious mental illness with high morbidity and mortality. The cause of the illness is still unclear and the underlying neurochemical changes are different for the manic phase compared with the depressive phase. The current treatments for BPAD are limited in scope and not biochemically well understood. There are gender differences in the presentation and outcomes for BPAD which adds to the complexity of the illness. We are proposing a study to develop a new type of treatment for the manic phase of BPAD and are exploring the use of anti-estrogens in women with mania. The background to our proposed study comes from a few case reports suggesting that anti-estrogen agents such as progesterone and tamoxifen may be useful adjuncts to treatment. We conducted a small pilot study comparing the addition of oral tamoxifen with oral progesterone and placebo in 10 women with mania and found that the women who received tamoxifen made significantly better improvements in their manic symptoms over a 28-day trial. The research study we are now proposing is a larger, three-arm, double blind, placebo controlled, 28-day adjunctive study in women with mania to expand and clarify our pilot study findings. Patients in our proposed study would receive either 40mg per day tamoxifen or 20mg per day progesterone or placebo in addition to standardised lithium medication. We will measure enzyme activity (protein kinase C) and estrogen-progesterone levels to understand more about the mechanisms of action by these new hormone treatments. BPAD is a crippling disorder and if we are successful, then tamoxifen treatment may be an important new treatment. This proposed study will also shed new light on some of the neurochemical mechanisms underlying BPAD as well as opening up the new area of hormone treatments for serious mental illness.Read moreRead less
Depressive And Bipolar Disorders: Causes, Presentation And Treatment Innovations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$7,100,605.00
Summary
Depression and bipolar disorder are two of Australia’s leading causes of disease burden, with 3-4 million Australians affected during their lifetime. However, despite being such a serious health burden, there are major shortcomings to current understanding and management. This research program aims to further our knowledge of the causes and presentations of the mood disorders, and to improve and “tailor” treatment for the many Australians who suffer from these highly disabling illnesses.