New NHMRC CRE Announced: Centre for Next-Generation Treatments for Mood Disorders
The University of Melbourne has secured $9 million in funding for three new Centres of Research Excellence (CREs), including the 'Centre for Next-Generation Treatments for Mood Disorders' led by Professor Christopher Davey.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) CRE scheme aims to improve health outcomes and promote or improve translation of research outcomes into policy and practice. This funding will also support researchers to tackle some of the world’s most complex health and sustainability challenges.
The CRE will explore the clinical application of rapidly acting antidepressants, including the use of advanced neuroscience approaches to better understand their mechanisms of action.
The neuroscience component will be led by Professor Ben Harrison (Department of Psychiatry) and Associate Professor Jess Nithianantharajah (The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health). The Centre will also collaborate with Professor Colleen Loo (Black Dog Institute) and Professor Nick Glozier (University of Sydney) and will be informed by lived experience experts led by Clare Walton.
The research will address questions of long-term safety, cost-effectiveness and equitable access. It has a particular focus on improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and will train the next generation of researchers in this emerging field.