Meet the team

Professor Neil Thomas is a clinical psychologist and researcher who has run a specialist Voices Clinic in Melbourne for 18 years, and is Director of the National eTherapy Centre at Swinburne University. With parallel interests in developing therapies to better help people with persisting voices, and in digital mental health, he is lead investigator on the AMETHYST Trial.

Susan is Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry and an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow at Swinburne University, Melbourne; she is also Co-Chair of MAGNET - the Australian mental health clinical trial network. Her research has focused on understanding the cognitive impairments involved in psychosis, mood disorders and body-image related disorders, aiming to develop new interventions for these debilitating cognitive symptoms.

Rachel is a clinical psychologist who has been providing therapy to people who hear voices for over 15 years. Originally from the UK, Rachel is a drinker of too much tea and a lover of the ocean.

Dr Imogen Bell is a senior research fellow and psychologist specialising in developing and delivering technology-based treatments for mental health difficulties, including virtual reality. In her spare time, you’ll find Imogen reading sci-fi fiction or chasing around her 2 year old toddler. 

Dr Andrew Thompson is a Professor of Youth Mental Health and a Consultant Psychiatrist. He is medical lead of the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) at Orygen and is the academic lead for the national headspace Early Psychosis services as well as head of Psychosis Clinical Research and Virtual Reality Research at Orygen. He holds an honorary Associate Professor position at the University of Warwick in the UK.

David is Professor, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Tasmania; and Co-Director, Tasmanian Centre for Mental Health Service Innovation. He has wide clinical and research interests, encompassing schizophrenia and related disorders, bipolar disorder, OCD spectrum disorders and disorders of body image. He has a longstanding interest in the impact of licit and illicit substances on the brain and body, and is actively engaged in programmes addressing the physical health of the mentally ill and the mental health of the physically ill. He has published widely in the scientific literature and is a frequent speaker at scientific meetings.

Professor Denny Meyer is a biostatistician who has specialised in the area of mental health for many years. She is the lead statistician for the Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trials Network (MAGNET). With particular interests in the analysis of clinical trial data, mental health helpline services data and the evaluation of mental health interventions, she is the lead statistician on the AMETHYST Trial.

Cathy Mihalopoulos is a Professor of Health Economics heading the Monash University Health Economics Group. She has been an investigator on grants totalling more than $75M and has over 200 publications. She is nationally and internationally recognised for her expertise in the use of economic evaluation techniques (both within trial and modelled), particularly within the context of mental health.

Dr Eleanor Longden is a Postdoctoral Service User Research Manager at the Psychosis Research Unit at GMMH NHS Foundation Trust, honorary research fellow at the University of Manchester, and co-director of GMMH’s Complex Trauma and Resilience Research Unit. Throughout her career she has drawn on her own experiences of recovery from trauma and psychosis to promote person-centred approaches to complex mental health problems, with a particular focus on interventions for voice hearing.

Dr Greg Wadley is a senior lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne, where he teaches software design and development subjects. He collaborates with health and psychology researchers to understand and enhance user experiences in virtual spaces and digital health interventions.

Associate Professor Georgie Paulik-White is a clinical psychologist research-practitioner who is passionate about working with people with psychosis and who experience distressing voices. Shas produced 40+ related peer reviewed publications and a textbook. She developed and evaluated two novel interventions for voices hearers (Cognitive Behaviour Relating Therapy) and visions (Imagery-Focused CBT) alongside colleagues in the UK. In 2016 she, and Prof. Johanna Badcock, opened Perth Voices Clinic. She is also passionate about exploring the role of trauma in hearing voices and the impact of psychological interventions for trauma on voice hearing, including Imagery Rescripting and Schema Therapy. 

Associate Professor Louise Birkedal Glenthøj is a clinical psychologist and research leader at VIRTU Research Group, University of Copenhagen, Denmark that specializes in utilizing new technologies, primarily virtual reality, aiming at advancing the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders. She is PI on eight ongoing clinical trials evaluating virtual reality-based interventions for symptoms such as auditory hallucinations, paranoia, negative symptoms, social anxiety, eating disorders, and in autism.

Dr Alexandra Gaillard interests are in mapping the neurocognitive correlates of schizophrenia and substance use disorders. In her spare time you will find her traveling or with her two dogs, Toby (pictured) and Pepsi.

Leila is a clinical psychologist and researcher. She has a special interest in working with people who have unusual experiences, like hearing or seeing things that others do not or fears of harm from others. Leila is passionate about trauma-informed care, and in the power of psychological approaches to help people to understand their difficulties, but also identify their strengths and resources. Leila enjoys working in a collaborative way with clients, and always seeks to be open-minded and non-judgmental. Leila had also worked as a trainer, lecturer and tutor at universities in the UK. In her spare time Leila enjoys bush walking, paddle boarding and playing netball!

Jess is a clinical psychologist who has a special interest in working with people who experience psychosis. She is a warm and non-judgemental clinician, who enjoys a collaborative, individual and connected approach to therapy. If you’re lucky, you may see her little black and white dog Seymour poke his head up from a nap during sessions. In her spare time, Jess enjoys bouldering, getting out in nature, and both excellent and terrible television.

Alisha is one of the AMETHYST Clinical Research Interviewers and an aspiring clinical psychologist. Outside of work, she is inseparable from her dog Diesel, books, and coffee.

Kathleen is one of the AMETHYST Clinical Research Interviewers with the goal of becoming a Psychiatrist. She loves cooking and exercising, as well as cold beach swims!

Iris is the PhD student on the AMETHYST trial with a special interest in the relationship between voices and voice hearers. She is huge fan of snowboarding, traveling and going on a food journey.