Psychosis

Professor Jackie Curtis was appointed inaugural Executive Director in April 2020. She is a psychiatrist and was previously the Clinical Director of Youth Mental Health at the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. Her research and clinical work over several decades has focused on early psychosis and youth mental health, including improving the cardiometabolic health of people living with serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia, with the aim of reducing health inequalities and increasing life expectancy. Jackie developed and implemented the internationally recognised Keeping the Body in Mind program, demonstrating that antipsychotic-induced weight gain can be prevented with lifestyle intervention, and is the co-founder and Co-Chair of the iphYs international working group advocating for improved physical health for youth experiencing psychosis. An invited committee member of the World Health Organisation working group for the international guidelines: management of physical health conditions in adults with severe mental disorders, Jackie is also a Conjoint Professor in the School of Psychiatry at UNSW Sydney. In 2023 she was the recipient of the prestigious Margaret Tobin Award from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. In 2024, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours.

Professor Lintzeris is a practising addiction medicine specialist, Director of Drug and Alcohol Services, South East Sydney Local Health District and Conjoint Professor in the Specialty of Addiction Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. He is the current President of the Chapter of Addiction Medicine, Royal Australasian College of Physicians, past Chief Addiction Medicine Specialist for NSW Health, and Foundation Chair of the NSW Drug and Alcohol Clinical Research and Improvement Network (DACRIN).

Professor Lintzeris has a keen interest in clinical and translational research in the drug and alcohol field, with 200 peer reviewed journal publications. A key interest is the use of clinical information routinely collected in electronic record systems to enable research and evaluation and improve care for people with substance use disorders

Associate Professor Julia Lappin is a psychiatrist ​​and the Clinical Director of the NSW Tertiary Referral Service for Psychosis (TRSP). She is also an Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales School of Psychiatry and Mental Health. She trained in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital, London and completed her PhD at King’s College, London, on the topic of outcomes following a first episode of psychotic illness.

Associate Professor Lappin’s research program focuses on improving outcomes for people living with psychotic illness, including people with substance use and other comorbidities. This clinical research is embedded in the TRSP, which delivers a holistic approach to care, enabling greater access to evidence-based interventions, including psychological, psychosocial and physical health treatments.

Simon Rosenbaum is an academic exercise physiologist and Scientia Professor in the Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, UNSW Sydney.

Simon’s research focuses on physical activity, trauma and mental illness, including physical health co-morbidities. He has published more than 230 peer-reviewed publications including a textbook and a Lancet Commission. He is the President of the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, co-chair of the Olympic Refuge Foundation Think Tank on sport and humanitarian settings, and an Associate Editor of the journal, Mental Health and Physical Activity.

Simon has led international research and capacity building projects, including working in the Rohingya refugee crises in Bangladesh, and has consulted to the United Nations Migration Agency in North-east Nigeria. Since 2019, he has been recognised by the Clarivate Highly Cited list for mental health.

Associate Professor Fullerton’s career focuses on demystifying the functioning of the human brain by improving understanding of the biological basis of mental illness. Studying genetic contributors to mental illness has the potential to reveal what happens in the development of a healthy or unhealthy brain and ultimately improve treatment and quality of life.

Associate Professor Fullerton completed her PhD in human genetics at The University of Melbourne in 2001, before completing five years post-doctoral training at The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford (UK), where she developed her interest in psychiatric genetics and complex trait analysis, studying genetic contributors to personality, depression and anxiety in humans and mice.

She returned to Australia in 2006 on a NHMRC Howard Florey Fellowship, which allowed her to join NeuRA to study the genetics of major mental illnesses, particularly bipolar disorder. In 2013, Dr Fullerton was promoted to Group Leader at NeuRA, where she heads projects in gene discovery and the role of specific genes in risk of major psychiatric conditions. She also has experience in neuroimaging, aspects of cognition and electronic health record research.

Dr Scott Teasdale is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Senior Research Fellow with UNSW Sydney and Mindgardens Neuroscience Network. He Teasdale focuses on real world effectiveness and implementation research relating to nutrition and lifestyle in the field of severe mental illness. His research program has helped drive a clear role for dietitians in preventing and managing physical health disparities in people living with severe mental illness.

In late 2022 Dr Teasdale was awarded a five-year NHMRC Investigator Grant in the Emerging Leadership category, which will support his ground-breaking work in nutrition for people who experience severe mental illness

Dr Oscar Lederman is a senior exercise physiologist at UNSW’s Addi Moves program, supporting the development and evaluation of an evidence-based, co-designed, exercise service for people of refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. He was previously clinical lead and accredited exercise physiologist at the Keeping the Body in Mind program, Eastern Suburbs Mental Health Service.

Dr Lederman is a conjoint lecturer at the University of NSW, Sydney. He has seven years’ experience working in mental health and his research and advocacy have been key in defining the role and scope of practice of exercise professionals in mental health. Oscar regularly provides education and training for students and professionals regarding the role of exercise in mental healthcare and is a published author. Oscar is a qualified Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) instructor and regularly delivers workshops to health professionals and tertiary students.