Researcher

Professor Melissa Jayne Green

Fields of Research (FoR)

Biological Psychology (Neuropsychology, Psychopharmacology, Physiological Psychology), Psychiatry (incl. Psychotherapy), Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, Genetics, Epidemiology, Developmental Psychology and Ageing

Biography

Research Interests:
My research uses methods from epidemiology, neuroscience, and genetics to understand life-course risk for mental disorders. I am particularly interested in how stress and other social determinants of health increase risk for psychosis, via biological or other mechanisms that may be observable in early life. I am the lead scientific investigator of the NSW Child Development Study (http://nsw-cds.com.au/), a longitudinal...view more

Research Interests:
My research uses methods from epidemiology, neuroscience, and genetics to understand life-course risk for mental disorders. I am particularly interested in how stress and other social determinants of health increase risk for psychosis, via biological or other mechanisms that may be observable in early life. I am the lead scientific investigator of the NSW Child Development Study (http://nsw-cds.com.au/), a longitudinal investigation of over 90,000 children in NSW, being conducted via repeated waves of linkage of health and human services data. My current research projects are conducted in collaboration with NSW government partners and colleagues at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), the UNSW School of Psychology, and UNSW Data Science Hub. My team works with other national collaborators at the University of Newcastle, Flinders University, the University of Melbourne, and Deakin University and with the international Psychiatric Genomics and ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro-Imaging Genetics via Meta Analyses) Consortia.

Broad Research Areas:
Epidemiology, Population Health, Developmental Psychology, Psychiatry, Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuropsychology, Genetics.

Current Academic Appointments:

Academic Board Member
Faculty of Health and Medicine Board Member

Current External Appointments:

Beyond Blue, Member of the Research Advisory Council
Psychosis Australia Trust, Member of the Research Advisory Council
Early Life Determinants of Health Clinical Advisory Group (SPHERE), Executive Committee Member
British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Associate Editor

Previous Appointments:

Academic Board, Non-Professorial Member
University Research Committee
Black Dog Institute Scientific Advisory Committee
Schizophrenia Research Institute, Scientific Advisory Committee
Prince of Wales Hospital Human Research Ethics Scientific Review Committee

My Grants

2020-24, Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Mental Health Pharmacogenomics 2020. A multifaceted approach to the pharmacogenomic signatures of bipolar disorder for improving treatment outcomes. CIs: Fullerton, J., Green MJ, Schofield, P., Toma, C. $1,009,768.

2018-21, NHMRC Project. (APP1148055). Developmental schizotypy in the general population: Early risk factors and predictive utility. CIs: Green MJ, Carr VC, Laurens, K.R., Dean, K., Badcock, J. $819,480.

2018-21, NHMRC Project. (APP1147644). Complete genomics for mechanistic insight and precision treatment of schizophrenia. CIs: Cairns, MJ., Green MJ, Carr VC. $1,133,341.

2018-21, NHMRC Partnership Project. (APP1133833). Achieving better mental health for maltreated children: turning population data into policy. CIs: Green MJ, Carr VC, Katz, I., Laurens, K.R., Neill, A. $522,705.50 (plus $400,000 cash and $200,000 in-kind contribution from the NSW Department of Family and Community Services).

2017-19, Australian Research Council Discovery Project. (DP170101403). Targeting early contact with the criminal justice system in young people. CIs: Dean K, Tzoumakis S, Green MJ, Carr VC. $347,000.

2017-18, Australian Rotary Health ‘Mental Health of Young Australians’ Grants Program. Determinants of risk and resilience in maltreated children using multi-agency administrative records: A population record-linkage study. CIs: Green MJ, Carr VC, Katz I, Laurens K, Dean K, Tzoumakis S. $149,640.

2015-16, NSW Health Sydney Genomics Collaborative Grants Program. Translational genomics for schizophrenia: Using whole genome sequencing to define the network architecture for personalised interventions. CIs: Cairns MJ, Green MJ, Carr VC. $800,000.

2015-17, NHMRC Project Grant (APP1081603). Epigenetic mechanisms of brain dysfunction in psychotic and mood disorders. CIs: Green MJ, Cairns,MJ, Cohen-Woods S. $601,328.

2014-17, NHMRC R.D. Wright Biomedical Career Development Fellowship (Level 2; APP1061875). Carving psychosis at its biological joints. CI: Green MJ. $447,000.

2014-16, NHMRC Project Grant (APP1058652) Identifying new targets for primary school mental health interventions using population data. CIs: Laurens KR, Carr VJ, Green MJ, Dix K, Brinkman, S., Lenroot R, et al $772,647.

2014-16, NHMRC Project Grant (APP1069487) Prediction error processing in schizophrenia. CIs: LePelley M, Morris R, Green MJ, Whitford T, Killcross S. $243,447.

2013-14, Schizophrenia Research Institute Grant-in-Aid. Epistatic genetic effects on neuroanatomical subtypes of schizophrenia. CI: Green MJ. $39,969.

2013-14, Schizophrenia Research Institute Grant in Aid. The neuroanatomy of auditory verbal hallucinations: Determining brain phenotypes for genetic investigation. CI: Green MJ. $31,000.

2013-14, Schizophrenia Research Institute Grant in Aid. Carving psychosis at its biological joints. CI: Green MJ. $31,000

2013-15, NHMRC Project Grant (APP1051672). Epistatic genetic effects on neuroanatomical subtypes of schizophrenia. CIs: Green MJ, Cairns MJ, Laurens KL, and Carr, VJ. $399,324

2013-15, NHMRC Project Grant (APP1046564). An MRI study of emotional processing deficits in childhood. CIs: Lenroot R, Dadds M, Brennan J, Dawes M, Green MJ, Laurens KR. $559,000.

2012-14, NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship (APP1039941) for Shepherd, A. Identifying neuroanatomical subtypes of schizophrenia. CI: Green MJ. ($25,000)

2011-17, ARC Centre of Excellence (CE110001021) ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders. CIs: Crain S, Yen L, Rhodes G, Hodges J, Coltheart M, Castles A, Barnier A, Byrne B, Demuth K, Green MJ, Johnson B, Langdon R, McArthur G, Miller L, Nickels L, Piguet O, Savage G, Thompson W, Thornton R, Lah S, Bishop D, Hayward W, McKay R, Nation K, Pellicano E, Rice M, Young A, Hornberger M, Best W, Friedmann N, Brune M, Palermo R. $21,000,000

2011-12, Australian Rotary Health ‘Mental Health of Young Australians’ Grants Program. Identifying targets and timing for early intervention: A NSW population record-linkage study to detect childhood indicators of risk for mental illness. CIs: Laurens KL, Green MJ $119,000.

2011-16, ARC Linkage Project (LP110100150). The NSW Child Development Study. Carr VJ, Laurens KR, Smith M, Hollbrook A, Bore M, Lenroot R, Green MJ. $420,000 plus $1.1M partner contributions.

2010-14, NHMRC Project Grant (APP630471). Imaging genetics in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: Adjudicating neurocognitive endophenotypes. CI: Green MJ. $540,000.

2009-13, ARC Future Fellowship (FT0991151). Imaging genetics in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: shared neurocognitive endophenotypes? CI: Green MJ. $686,400.

2006-08, NARSAD Young Investigator Award. Remediation of facial emotion perception in psychotic disorders. CI: Green MJ. US $30,000.

2005-06, NHMRC Travel Award for Research Training (APP331613). The role of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in social context processing. CI: Green MJ. $7,000.

2003-04, ARC Network Seeding Grant (SR0354823). CBT for Schizophrenia. CI: Killackey EJ, Jackson H, Green MJ, Langdon R, Coltheart M. $10,000.

2002-06, NHMRC Australian Clinical Research Fellowship, Green MJ. Perceiving is believing: Mental state perception in schizophrenia from faces in their social context. $219,025.

My Qualifications

Qualifications:

PhD (Psychology), U. Syd, 2002.
M.Litt (Psychology), UNE, 1998.
B.A. (Psychology), UQ, 1995

My Awards

Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Writing Residency (2019)
NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2011)
Aubrey Lewis Early Career Award, Biological Psychiatry Australia (2011)
Dean’s Rising Star Award - Faculty of Medicine, UNSW (2009)
International Neuropsychological Society Butters Award (2004)
UK-Menzies Bicentennial Award (2001)
NIMH Seymour Kety Travel Scholarship, NIH, USA (2001)
Experimental Psychological Society’s Grindley Award (2000)

My Research Activities

Current Projects

NSW Child Development Study (http://nsw-cds.com.au/)
Developmental schizotypy in the general population
Achieving better mental health for maltreated children: translating population data into policy
Complete genomics for mechanistic insight and precision treatment of schizophrenia
A mutifaceted approach to the pharmacogenomic signatures of bipolar disorder for improving treatment outcomes
Determinants of risk and resilience in maltreated children

Completed Projects

Targeting early contact with the criminal justice system in young people
Identifying new targets for primary school mental health interventions using population data
Imaging genetics in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: adjudicating cognitive endophenotypes
Carving psychosis at its biological joints
Epigenetic mechanisms of brain dysfunction in psychotic and mood disorders
Translational genomics for schizophrenia: using whole genome sequencing to define the network architecture for personalised interventions