AUSTRALIAN ROTARY HEALTH ANNOUNCES  MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH FUNDING FOR 2018

Posted on by

Australian Rotary Health is pleased to announce they will dedicate $1,598,008 towards research in a wide variety of mental health areas in 2018. This includes 11 new Mental Health Research Grant projects, 10 continuing Mental Health Research Grant projects, 2 new Postdoctoral Fellowships, 2 continuing Postdoctoral Fellowships, and 4 new Ian Scott PhD Scholarships in mental health. The research will focus on important topics such as suicide prevention, child mental health, depression and anxiety, and perinatal mental health. Australian Rotary Health CEO Joy Gillett OAM said it is always a pleasure to award new funding to deserving research candidates. “As always, there were many outstanding applications this round, and it was difficult to choose from so many worthwhile projects,” Ms Gillett said. “We are positive that the projects we have selected will produce some interesting findings in the mental health field.”

A total of $691,611 will be put towards the following new Mental Health Research Grant projects:

  • Louise Mewton, University of New South Wales – The long-term effectiveness of a combined prevention model for anxiety, depression and substance use in adolescents.
  • Delyse Hutchinson, Deakin University – Breaking the intergenerational cycle of mental disorder: A longitudinal study of the social determinants of childhood psychosocial adjustment problems.
  • Sonja March, University of Southern Queensland – Improving efficiency of online cognitive behaviour therapy for childhood anxiety through stepped care.
  • Caroline Donovan, Griffith University – Improving Pre-schoolers’ Transition to School: Targeting Sleep Problems.
  • Elizabeth Elliott, University of Sydney – Longitudinal study of wellbeing and quality of life in remote Indigenous youth: the Biswun Kid* Project.
  • Justin Kenardy, University of Queensland – Effectiveness trial of the CARE screen-and-treat early intervention for improving physical and mental health outcomes in young injured children and their parent.
  • Sian McLean, Victoria University – Enhancing social media literacy to decrease body dissatisfaction: A randomised controlled trial.
  • Amanda Baker, University of Newcastle – Pilot randomised controlled trial of a telephone delivered intervention for comorbid mental health disorders and hazardous alcohol use misuse among young people.
  • Sally Fitzpatrick, Macquarie University – Reducing the impact of bullying victimisation on children’s mental health outcomes.
  • Tegan Cruwys, University of Queensland – Groups 4 health: Can a social identity intervention reduce social isolation in young adults more effectively than traditional cognitive behaviour therapy?
  • Mark Boyes, Curtin University – Promoting mental health in children with dyslexia: Piloting the ‘clever kids’ programme.

An additional $582,521 will be put towards the following continuing Mental Health Research Grant projects:

  • Alison Calear, Australian National University – Silence is Deadly: a cluster-randomised controlled trial of a mental health help-seeking intervention for young men.
  • Helen O’Connor, University of Sydney – Reducing body dissatisfaction and internalised weight stigma in young women with obesity. The everyBODY study.
  • Susan Byrne, University of Western Australia – A randomised controlled trial of an efficacious school-based eating disorder risk reduction program: A comparison of 2,4 and 8 lessons.
  • Viviana Wuthrich, Macquarie University – Psychological Stepped Care for Anxious Adolescents in Community Mental Health Services: An Effectiveness Trial.
  • Anthony LaMontagne, Deakin University – Employment outcomes following adolescent-onset mental illness in a longitudinal cohort of young Victorians.
  • Ilona Juraskova, University of Sydney – Enhancing treatment decision making in bipolar II disorder: Evaluation of an online decision-aid for young adults.
  • Jeneva Ohan, University of Western Australia – Using Social Norms to Engage Parents in Interventions for their Child’s Behaviour problems.
  • Gin Malhi, University of Sydney – Preventing suicide in young Australians with mood disorders: Adjunctive Lithium for Acute Suicidality (AliAS) study.
  • Lexine Stapinski, University of New South Wales – Making InRoADs: Trial of an innovative early intervention to interrupt the cycle of anxiety and drinking in young Australians.
  • Melissa Green, University of New South Wales – Determinants of risk and resilience in maltreated children using multi-agency administrative records: A population record-linkage study.

An allocation of $150,000 will be put towards the following Postdoctoral Fellowships:

  • Nicole Reilly (Geoffrey Betts Postdoctoral Fellowship), University of Newcastle – Prevention and early intervention for maternal mental illness: a research program that will inform policy and clinical practice.
  • Erin Hoare (Royce Abbey Postdoctoral Fellowship), Deakin University – Lifestyle modification to prevent common mental illness among young Australians: A community-based systems approach.

A total of $61,875 will be put towards the following continuing Postdoctoral Fellowships:

  • Louise Mewton, University of New South Wales – Preventing adolescent mental illness through brain training.
  • Laura Hart, La Trobe University – Confident Body, Confident Child: Effectiveness trial community-based dissemination of a resource to support parents of preschoolers in preventing body dissatisfaction, eating disorders and obesity in their children.

And, a contribution of $112,000 will go towards the following Ian Scott PhD Scholarships:

  • Angela Nicholas, University of Melbourne – Building a suicide prevention campaign targeted at family members and friends of those at risk of suicide.
  • Rebecca Blackmore, Monash University – Perinatal mental health in women of refugee backgrounds.
  • Illaria Pozzato, University of Sydney – Preventing mental health problems following motor vehicle crash, by early detection of high risk survivors (the IMPRINT study).
  • Bianca Kavanagh, Deakin University – Personality disorder as a moderator of psychiatric clinical outcomes.

Australian Rotary Health is one of the largest independent funders of mental health research within Australia. For more information, visit the Australian Rotary Health website: www.australianrotaryhealth.org.au MEDIA CONTACT: Media and Communications Manager, Jessica Cooper – (02) 8837 1900, 0431315253 or jessica@arh.org.au