Newsletter | Issue 3 | August 2016

I was reminded of the privilege of working in the Melbourne Medical School at the University of Melbourne at the recent Open Day.

Professor Ian Young – former Vice-Chancellor outlines the opportunities and challenges for Australia in building its knowledge-based future and the role and needs of university research to achieve this future

In June, Julie Bishop Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs along with local leaders in the Shepparton community visited the Department of Rural Health and Shepparton Medical Centre.

The annual Department of Psychiatry Research Symposium was held on Thursday 18 August. Shown is Mr Chenxing next to his winning poster on 'Pathway-wide association analysis of schizophrenia'.

The Department of Psychiatry continues to enhance its engagement with China: developing working relationships with colleagues in China; developing and delivering training; and facilitating collaborative research with exchange programs and joint research symposiums.

Safe Mothers, Safe Babies is a program that provides mental healthcare to pregnant women at risk of family violence.

On 18 August 2016 it was standing room only in the Ian Potter Auditorium when Professor Dave Coghill presented the 2016 Alice Barber Lecture ‘Fidgety Phil and Head in the Air Johnny: What is ADHD and why is it still so controversial.’

Professor Carol Harvey Head of the Department of Psychiatry’s Psychosocial Research group and others from the Department of Psychiatry, are part of a partnership project that has received funds from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) to evaluate the appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of PARCS.

The Centre of Research Excellence in Cognitive Health was launched on Wednesday 15 June.

The Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre (MNC/the Centre) part of the MMS Department of Psychiatry has established a  Greek-Australian travelling fellowship in Neuropsychiatry and is delighted to welcome its first fellow Dr Stefanos Dimitrakopoulos to Melbourne.

Associate Professor Walterfang, a consultant Psychiatrist and Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry (Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre), has been recognized for his dedication to neuropsychiatry clinical research with the awarding of the prestigious Royal Melbourne Hospital Research Medal and a $50 000 contribution towards his current research project.

Meeting on 7 September 11 am - 12 noon to discuss potential research opportunities for the approximately one billion lines of de-identified historical health data relating to approximately 3 million Australians now available on data.gov.au.

The Department of Psychiatry is proud to announce that Professor Nicola Lautenschlager, Chair of Old Age Psychiatry, has been selected to receive a service award from the International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA).

The annual Student Award Presentations celebrating the Parkville Precinct’s best and brightest research students undertaking Honours, Master of Biomedical Sciences and PhD studies was held on 23 May at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

A Scholarly Selective Symposium was held during the Royal Melbourne Hospital Research Week . Thirty MD (Royal Melbourne Hospital Scholarly Selective) students submitted for Poster and Oral presentations of their scholarly selective projects completed this year.

The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) was recently officially opened by Joe Biden, Vice-President of the United States but before that, and occupancy staff of the MMS had a tour of the empty facility.