Professor Christos Pantelis elected as Fellow to the Royal College of Psychiatrists
Professor Christos Pantelis, the Scientific Director of the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, and Consultant Psychiatrist with the North West Mental Health Network, was elected to Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) in the United Kingdom at a ceremony held on 24 April 2019.
His nomination was proposed by his colleague, Professor Paola Dazzan, with whom he has collaborated on various psychiatric neuroimaging research projects over many years.
During his distinguished career, Professor Pantelis has sought to elucidate the nature of progressive brain changes at psychosis onset (DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12323-9) and over the course of illness, including recent work on neuroinflammation, stress, cannabis and genes.
His recent work has also examined the neurobiology of treatment-resistant schizophrenia and studies investigating the causes as well as management of severe side-effects of clozapine.
Key to his election to Fellowship has been his mentorship of trainee psychiatrists, senior scientists, students and international fellows in various areas of psychiatry.
He has been particularly successful at identifying and growing talented young researchers, with many becoming research and clinical leaders in neuropsychiatry.
Professor Pantelis is currently a Chief Investigator (CI) on multiple NHMRC-funded research grants, including a five-year Program Grant commencing in 2019, in collaboration with co-CIs from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Arthur Christopoulos, Patrick Sexton) and the University of Queensland (Robert Parton).
The goal of this work is to translate human findings to animal models and develop novel treatments, with a focus on treating cognitive deficits of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Other recent work extends beyond psychosis in adolescence to earlier stages of development, by investigating childhood schizotypal disorder and differentiating this from Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Professor Pantelis remains an active contributor to psychiatry at an international level and is sought after as a speaker and collaborator on international studies.