Our Team

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.

Rachel transitioned from a career in accounting and finance spanning more than 18 years to retrain as an exercise physiologist, joining the Keeping the Body In Mind (KBIM) team as research co-ordinator in 2016 before completing a Master of Science by Research in Psychiatry in 2021. Rachel’s expertise in business operations and governance, together with a wealth of experience in the translation of mental health research into practice, brings a highly specialised skill set to the Mindgardens team, which is vital to the organisation’s mission. She is passionate about providing a supportive and commercially-aware environment to enable collaboration within the Mindgardens Neuroscience Network.

During 2022 Rachel was also appointed Co-Lead of MindLabs, in preparation for an intensified focus on training, research support and seeding grants to build skills across the Mindgardens network for effective multi-disciplinary research collaboration. She is a member of the Mindgardens executive.

Andrew has over 20 years of mental health clinical experience in public mental health services. He is a nurse practitioner who specialises in severe mental illness particularly early psychosis.

Andrew co-developed and led the Keeping the Body in Mind program designed to improve metabolic health outcomes for people taking psychotropic medication with lifestyle interventions and health coaching. He has developed several other programs including a youth mental health intervention and online health coaching program.

Andrew completed his PhD on ‘Addressing the barriers to improve metabolic health care for people experiencing severe mental illness.’ He is the recipient of multiple clinical and research awards and is a strong advocate of translational research. In his Director of Programs and Innovation role with Mindgardens Neuroscience Network Andrew oversees all clinical programs and research within Mindgardens operations.

Catherine is responsible for ensuring the integration of lived experience perspectives in all Mindgardens research, clinical and education work programs. With a degree in adult education and qualifications in counselling, Catherine’s earlier career was in corporate training and human resources management. She brings her own lived experience of mental health challenges to her role, which involves developing the capacity and diversity of consumer representation and engaging with Mindgardens Members to support lived experience inclusion in their work.

During 2022 Catherine was also appointed Co-Lead of MindLabs, in preparation for an intensified focus on training, research support and seeding grants to build skills across the Mindgardens network for effective multi-disciplinary research collaboration.

Professor Vaughan Carr trained in psychiatry in the USA at the University of Rochester and Yale University (1974-80). He was appointed Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at the University of Adelaide (1980-88) and then Professor of Psychiatry and Head of the Discipline of Psychiatry at the University of Newcastle (1989-2009) during which time he also served as Director of Mental Health Services in the Hunter-New England area (1997-2005). He was subsequently appointed Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales (2009-20) and served as Scientific Director and CEO of the Schizophrenia Research Institute in Sydney (2004-15), and consultant psychiatrist at Monash Health (2014-24). He now holds Adjunct and Conjoint Professorial appointments at the Universities of Newcastle, New South Wales and Monash. He has published research papers on schizophrenia, depression, posttraumatic stress, child psychiatry, psychotherapy, substance abuse, health service evaluation, health economics and child development. His research has spanned the disciplines of clinical science, cognitive neuroscience, neurobiology, genetics and epidemiology. 

Maddie is the Finance Manager for Mindgardens, responsible for all finance-related tasks. She previously worked in corporate accounting for more than 10 years, most recently in the insurance sector where she assisted with all aspects of management reporting, from board reporting and business partnering to budgeting and forecasting.

Romy is the Executive Officer for Mindgardens, providing high-level support to the Mindgardens executive team. She  focuses on implementation and reporting for operational and strategic projects and supporting the delivery of Mindgardens strategic goals.

Romy’s professional background includes accountancy, human resources, learning and development and most recently corporate philanthropy with the Macquarie Group Foundation. Romy is passionate about social impact and supports another not-for-profit organisation called Women For Change, providing tertiary education access to girls and young women from developing nations.

*Romy is currently on extended leave. Alice Chatwood is covering the role of Executive Officer during this period.

Lyndall provides support to the Mindgardens executive and team. Joining in 2023, she is responsible for developing robust business systems and processes to optimise performance as Mindgardens grows and extends its impact. With a recent background with the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD), a Mindgardens Member organisation, Lyndall brings crucial operational skills and knowledge to her role focusing on human resources, reporting and project management.

Fenella brings a decade of experience in marketing and promotions to Mindgardens. Her diverse background includes roles in private and non-profit organisations across the arts, community support and commercial services sectors. Additionally, she has worked as a freelance journalist and editor for a range of publications. She is an advocate for mental health support in the workplace.

In her role as Media and Communications Officer for Mindgardens, Fenella will leverage her professional and personal experience to oversee Mindgardens communication and marketing strategies, campaigns and content, working closely with the Director of Strategic Engagement.

Law holds over 9 years of experience as a clinical exercise physiologist working with vulnerable population groups including mental health, aboriginal health, those in touch with the Justice system and individuals experiencing homelessness.

Notably, Law was the first Exercise Physiologist to be employed in the Forensic Hospital, providing services to those experiencing serious mental illness and in contact with the criminal justice system. They took this opportunity to build the service with patient engagement at the forefront, leading to service level change and the development of the first physical health multidisciplinary team (MDT) in the Forensic Hospital. Prior to working in Justice Health NSW, Law worked within the Mindgardens KBIM clinical team in adult community mental health, as well as project lead in the implementation of the Peer outreach Wellness Coach Healthcare (PoWCH) navigator project.

In the role of Research and Project Clinical Liaison Officer, Law will use their valuable project management experience, leadership expertise and health service knowledge to assist Translational Research team members to embed research and projects within the clinical services of Mindgarden’s member organisations.

Eliza’s interest in research began with an Honours degree in Molecular and Cell Biology. Keen to explore research that centres social impact, she left the lab and joined Mindgardens in 2023. Eliza primarily supports the Keeping the Body in Mind(gardens) research projects, which focus on improving physical health outcomes for people living with serious mental illness, and is the Team Lead of the Keeping the Body in Mind – Primary team.

Oliver Ardill-Young holds a Bachelor of Psychology with First Class Honours and a Major in Linguistics from the School of Psychology, University of Sydney. At Mindgardens, he works as a Research Officer on projects across hospital and community mental health settings, including with headspace Bondi Junction and the Keeping the Body in Mind (KBIM) program, ranging from randomised clinical trials, knowledge translation and implementation science to qualitative research. He worked previously as a disability support worker and as a Research Assistant in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney on projects related to early cognitive development, health-related beliefs during the perinatal period, and neurostimulation and memory.