14th International Mental Health Conference

• Professor Philip LP Morris - President Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association
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  Prof Morris has medical qualifications MBBS (Hons), BSc(med) (Hons), and PhD. He is qualified in psychiatry and addiction medicine in Australia and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (FRANZCP) and a Fellow of the Australasian Chapter of Addiction Medicine (FAChAM) of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). He is qualified in general adult psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry in the USA and is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN).

  He is a Certified Independent Medical Examiner (CIME) with the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (ABIME). Prof Morris is Vice President and a Distinguished Fellow and Board Director of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatry.
  
  Prof Morris is Medical Director of Mirikai, a young adult drug and alcohol rehabilitation program on the Gold Coast, and is Medical Director of the Gold Coast – Tweed Memory Disorders Clinic. He has a private psychiatric and medico-legal practice on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane. He is a member of the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Reference Committee.

  Prof Morris is Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Forensic Excellence, Bond University. Prof Morris has held professor positions in psychiatry at the University of Melbourne and the University of Queensland, and at the School of Health Sciences at Bond University. At the University of Melbourne he was chairman of the Department of Psychiatry Research Committee. He has been Medical Superintendent of Macquarie Psychiatric Hospital, North Ryde NSW, and Director of Mental Health for the Gold Coast District Health Service. He was the Foundation Director of the Australian Centre for Post Traumatic Mental Health at the University of Melbourne. He has been a member of the Queensland Compensation Commission (Q-Comp) Medical Assessment Tribunal – Psychiatric, and was chairman of the RANZCP Continuing Professional Development Subcommittee.

  His clinical and research interests include the psychiatric care of adult patients, medical and surgical patients (consultation–liaison psychiatry), neuropsychiatry/psycho geriatrics, post-trauma syndromes, clinical drug trials, and co morbid drug and alcohol and psychiatric conditions. Prof Morris undertook post-graduate research and clinical training in the USA. He has published many scientific articles and reports and has won a number of competitive government research grants as well as pharmaceutical industry support for drug trials. He is an external assessor for the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

  Prof Morris has extensive experience in medico-legal assessment for a range of legal jurisdictions. Prof Morris is trained in the application of the American Medical Association Guides for the Assessment of Permanent Impairment, the Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS), the Comcare Permanent Impairment Guides, and the Guide to the Assessment of Rates of Veteran Pensions (GARP).

Professor Philip Mitchell AM MB BS, MD, FRANZCP, FRCPsych.  Professor and Head of the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales; Convenor of Brain Sciences UNSW; Chair of the NSW Mental Health Priority Taskforce; Consultant Psychiatrist, Black Dog Institute, Sydney; Guest Professor, Shanghai Jaitong University; and Board Member of the Anika Foundation.

Philip Mitchell is Professor and Head of the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales; Convenor of Brain Sciences UNSW; Chair of the NSW Mental Health Priority Taskforce; Consultant Psychiatrist, Black Dog Institute, Sydney; Guest Professor, Shanghai Jaitong University; and Board Member of the Anika Foundation.

His research and clinical interests are in bipolar disorder and depression, with a particular focus on the molecular genetics of bipolar disorder, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for depression, and the pharmacological and psychological treatment of bipolar disorder and depression.

Professor Mitchell has published (in conjunction with colleagues) over 370 papers or chapters on these topics and is a member of an NHMRC-funded Program Grant on depression and bipolar disorder. He is an assistant editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry and Therapeutic Advances in Chronic Disease and Neuropsychiatry. He also serves on the editorial boards of Psychiatric Genetics, CNS Drugs, CNS Spectrums, Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, Current Therapeutic Research and Medicine Today.

In 2002 Professor Mitchell was awarded the Senior Research Award of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. In 2004, he received the Founders Medal of the Australasian Society for Psychiatry Research. In 2009 he was appointed a Scientia Professor, UNSW (2009-2014), for his international eminence in research. Professor Mitchell also serves on the NSW Health Care Advisory Council.

He was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2010 Australia Day Honours List for service to medical education, particularly in the field of psychiatry, as an academic, researcher and practitioner, through contributions to the understanding, treatment and prevention of mental illness.

Kuruvilla George was born in Singapore and did his schooling in Singapore. He completed his medical education in India and his post-graduation as a psychiatrist in UK. He currently lives in Melbourne Australia, where he is the Director of Aged Person's Mental Health and Director of Medical Services at Peter James Centre and Wantirna Health. He is also the Deputy Chief Psychiatrist for the state of Victoria in Australia. KG as he is fondly known is a Clinical Professor at Deakin University, Clinical Associate Professor at Monash University and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University Of Notre Dame. He was recently appointed to the board of the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Rights Commission.

Dr Julia Bowman is a senior lecturer in the Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Western Sydney. Julia has worked in the university sector for the past 15 years. Julia’s teaching and research areas include evidence-based practice, outcome measurement and mental health and well-being. Julia has ongoing research and education collaborations with Macarthur Mental Health Service, Nepean and Blue Mountains Mental Health Service, Northern New South Wales Local Health District Mental Health Services and Western Sydney Local Health District Mental Health Services.

Julia’s research focus relates to how mental illness and distress impact upon a person’s occupational roles and behaviours; and in particular the strategies and opportunities that promote occupational engagement and competence in order promote recovery, mental health and wellbeing. Julia is also currently supervising three higher degree research students and four honours students.        

Dr Neville is a mental health nurse with an established research profile in ageing, dementia, mental health and respite care using predominantly quantitative research methods. Her current research focus is on revising the National Standards for Mental Health Nurses in Australia, pain rating scales for older people with dementia, respite care for older people with dementia and undergraduate nurse perceptions of a career in aged care.

Dr Neville has general and mental health nursing qualifications with extensive clinical experience in both these areas. Her PhD was undertaken at The University of Queensland on the behaviour of older people admitted for respite care. She is a Fellow of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses and has been the recipient of the internationally acclaimed Stan Alchin Award for Outstanding Mental Health Nursing Practice. Christine is Chair of the Education and Research Committee for the Psychogeriatric Nurses Association. Since 1997 she has been involved in the tertiary education of nurses. Christine joined The University of Queensland in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in 2007 as the Undergraduate Programs Director and is involved in the development of a new Masters of Mental Health Nursing program and a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program.