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| Staff (Intranet) | Staff directory | A-Z index | Site map |
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Clinical Trials Research Group - PersonnelThe CTRG is a research team within the Department of Psychological Medicine at Monash University. The group is under the direction of Associate Professor Saji Damodaran and the guidance of the deputy directors and the associate researchers. The CTRG has four study researchers; Director
Deputy Director
Research Manager
Study Co-ordinators
Associate Researchers
Associate Professor Saji Damodaran A/Prof Damodaran holds the position of Clinical Director of Southern Adult Mental Health Services and associate professor of Psychological medicine in Monash University. He has received over half a Millon dollars in grants and funding for projects focussing on improving the treatment of eating disorders and prevention of suicide. He has over a dozen peer-reviewed publications and major research interest are psychopharmacology, service system research and clinical audits and clinical practice improvement. Associate Professor Michael Wong Dr Wong has been involved in clinical trials for over a decade. He has held various academic and research positions in Hong Kong, Toronto, London and Melbourne before he was appointed the Clinical Director of Inpatient Services at Southern Adult Mental Health Service. He is associated with Monash University as Hon Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry. He has authored/co-authored more than 50 publications including original articles in high impact international peer reviewed journals. His latest research focuses on quality and outcome in acute inpatient psychiatry, neuroimaging of psychosis, and psychiatry and philosophy. Associate Professor Krishna Vaddadi Associate Professor Vaddadi is the Clinical Director of Rehabilitation stream of adult psychiatry. He is a keen clinical researcher and has published several scientific papers and book chapters. His main area of expertise is Essential Lipids, in Neuropsychiatric disorders. He discovered that Essential Fatty Acids might play a key therapeutic role in Tardive Dyskinesia and is the inventor on US and EU patents. Krishna Vaddadi is an associate Editor of International Reviews of Psychiatry a series editor of the forth coming issue on “Lipids in Psychiatry. Krishna Vaddadi, conducted some ground breaking work on Clozapine and Selenium that was published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology in 2003 and this is a patented clinical work. Besides his expertise in biological Psychiatry Krishna Vaddadi is a passionate researcher in carer burden and distress. Dr Marcelo Rosenstein Dr Rosenstein studied medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina and continued studying and working in Buenos Aires to complete his Psychiatry training. Dr Rosenstein held the position of Assistant Professor at the School of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires for a number of years before migrating to Melbourne. Dr Rosenstein joined Southern Health in 2005 as a consultant psychiatrist at Dandenong Hospital and took up the position of ECT Deputy Director at the Hospital in 2005. Dr Rosenstein’s research interests are in the fields of titrating ECT treatment and comparing ECT treatment regimes across Victoria. Dr Sanjay Dave Dr Dave studied medicine in India and then moved to Edmonton, Canada, where he became actively involved in outpatient Bipolar Disorder Clinics. Dr Dave worked on various national studies on antipsychotics and mood stabilizers headed by Dr. Lakshmi Yatham and Dr. Peter Silverstone. Dr Dave has also conducted various fMRI studies on mood stabilizers and Dextroamphetamine with Dr. Silverstone and his group producing publications in peer reviewed journals. Dr Dave is currently a Psychiatry Medical Officer at the Dandenong Hospital and training for various studies conducted by CTRG. Dr Sathya Rao Dr Rao is the Senior Consultant for Inpatient Psychiatry at Dandenong Hospital. He is also honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine, Monash University. He directs the ECT Program at Dandenong Hospital. Dr Rao is the Regional Director of training for Vic South and Director of Advanced Training in Adult Psychiatry. His areas of interest include electroconvulsive therapy, borderline personality disorder, rating scales, inpatient psychiatry and training. Cath Savage Cath joined CTRG in January 2005 as a Research Assistant with twenty years of nursing experience in the field of mental health. In April 2005, Cath took over the position of Research Manager/Coordinator and has enjoyed the challenges associated with running this exciting group ever since. Cath continues to work in the field to maintain her clinical skills using her previous experience in the fields of acute psychiatry; crisis assessment; alcohol and drugs and outpatient counselling. Jodie Feil Jodie joined CTRG in 2006 as a study co-ordinator whilst completing her PhD in Cognitive Neuropsychology at Monash University. Prior to working at CTRG, Jodie spent two years working closely with a psychologist at a mental health clinic and following that, as a research assistant on a developmental brain lesion study at the Royal Children’s hospital in Victoria. Jodie also tutors developmental and biological psychology at Monash University. Jodie’s research interests are in the field of neurobiology and neuro-circuitry underlying cognitive inhibition, substance abuse, depression and schizophrenia. She has had papers peer-reviewed and accepted for presentation at International conferences. Stella Chaviaras Stella joined CTRG as a Research Assistant in 2007. She has a Bachelor degree in Behavioural Neuroscience with Honours. Both Stella’s Honours theses studied the antidepressant-like effects of an oxytocin agonist using two different animal models. Her research interests are in the study of psychopharmacology, neuro-endocrinology and the neurobiology underlying mental illnesses, in particular depression and schizophrenia. During her undergraduate degree, Stella majored in psychology and neuroscience. Danielle Graber Danielle joined the CTRG in June 2007 with Bachelor degrees and Honours in Medical Science and Psychology. Danielle’s prior experience includes work in pathology, phone counselling, co-ordinating immunology studies and case management work with adolescents. Her research theses included work on reproductive toxicology, molecular genetics and medication compliance in chronic illness and her research interests extend to depression, anxiety and health psychology. |