Professor Gavan Patrick McNally

My Expertise

Neuroscience, learning, motivation, addiction.

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Biological Psychology (Neuropsychology, Psychopharmacology, Physiological Psychology), Neurosciences, Mental Health

SEO tags

Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences

Biography

I am a behavioural neuroscientist. I study the fundamental behavioural and brain mechanisms for learning and motivation and understanding how these apply to clinical conditions such as addictions, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. I am interested in identifying these mechanisms, at the cellular, circuit, and systems level and also in translating this fundamental information into new treatments of psychological conditions. To do so, I adopt a systems neuroscience approach combining well controlled behavioural approaches with a variety of approaches (optogenetics, chemogenetics, in vivo calcium imaging, whole brain circuit mapping) in normal and transgenic animals to map and manipulate, at cellular and circuit levels, brain mechanisms. I pursue human translational work and clinical applications with colleagues at University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District, Monash University, and Turning Point.

Current Roles

Editor-in-Chief, Neurobiology of Learning & Memory
Senior Editor, The Journal of Neuroscience
President-Elect, European Behavioral Pharmacology Society
Scientific Advisory Board Chair, 2024 ISBRA/APSAAR World Congress
Member, Australian Research Council College of Experts
Board Member, Optogenetics Australia

Education

BSc (Hon) (UNSW)
PhD (UNSW)

Awards and Honours

2008 QEII Fellow, Australian Research Council
2009 Association for Psychological Science, International Rising Star
2010 Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
2010 UNSW Faculty of Science Staff Excellence Award for Research and Training
2011 Pavlovian Research Award, The Pavlovian Society
2012 Future Fellow (Level 3), Australian Research Council
2017 D.G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award, American Psychological Association
2017 Fellow, American Psychological Association
2019 Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
2021 D.G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award, American Psychological Association
2022 Ross Day Plenary Lecturer, Australasian Brain and Psychological Sciences
2023 European Behavioural Pharmacology Society Plenary Lecturer
2024 Elspeth McLachlan Plenary Lecturer, Australasian Neuroscience Society

My Grants

Current Funding

Australian Research Council
Discovery Project, 2024 - 2026. Risky choices: From cells and circuits to computations and behaviour (CI: McNally). Direct Research Costs: $631,374
Discovery Project, 2022 - 2024. Punishment learning: From cells to circuits to behaviour (CI: McNally). Direct Research Costs: $581,153

National Health and Medical Research Council
Synergy Grant: 2022 - 2026. Linking clinical and basic science discovery to find new treatments for alcohol-use disorder (CIs; Haber, Morley, Lawrence, Manning, Lubman, McNally, Millan, Arunogiri). Direct Research Costs: $5,000,000

Ideas Grant: 2022 - 2026. Novel pathways to abstinence from alcohol seeking (CIs: McNally, Millan, Power). Direct Research Costs: $1,104,880

My Qualifications

BSc (Hon) (UNSW)
PhD (UNSW)

My Awards

2008 QEII Fellow, Australian Research Council
2009 Association for Psychological Science, International Rising Star
2010 Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
2010 UNSW Faculty of Science Staff Excellence Award for Research and Training
2011 Pavlovian Research Award, The Pavlovian Society
2012 Future Fellow (Level 3), Australian Research Council
2016 D.G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award, American Psychological Association
2017 Fellow, American Psychological Association
2019 Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
2021 D.G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award, American Psychological Association
2022 Ross Day Plenary Lecturer, Australasian Brain and Psychological Sciences
2023 European Behavioural Pharmacology Society Plenary Lecturer
2024 Elspeth McLachlan Plenary Lecturer, Australasian Neuroscience Society

My Research Supervision

Areas of supervision

I have supervised more than 25 PhD students to completion and have served in major leadership roles relating to research training. I am available to supervise projects in behavioural neuroscience, learning, motivation, and addiction.