Research interests of the research team offering the project

Orygen's cognition research team focuses on advancing knowledge and support of cognition in early-stage mental illness.

Our research themes are broad but include work aiming to:

• screen cognitive strengths and difficulties of young people with mental illness;
• better appreciate how cognition affects the symptomatic, psychological and functional aspects of early stage mental illness;
• develop novel ways of addressing cognition in clinical practice;
• understand the lived experience of young people and collaborate with them so that we can use our combined knowledge to enhance outcomes; and
• translate our research into real-world clinical practice through partnership with youth mental health services.

Details of the project

Young people with first-episode psychosis experience neurodevelopmental difficulties and disorders, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity symptoms/disorder, autism spectrum traits/disorder and intellectual disability at higher rates than the general population. There is a dearth of evidence showing widespread and clinically-significant cognitive impairments in first-episode psychosis samples. While it is widely accepted that these impairments are largely neurodevelopmental in origin, these impairments are viewed as being core to the psychotic disorder, with little attention having been paid to specific neurodevelopment conditions in relation to cognitive impairment in psychosis. This is surprising given neurodevelopmental conditions are present from early childhood, well before the onset of psychotic disorder. More research is needed to understand the associations between neuropsychological/cognitive functioning, neurodevelopmental conditions and psychosis.

This project will utilise data collected as part of ongoing studies in first-episode psychosis at Orygen and the Centre for Youth Mental Health.

Project references

1. Allott K, van-der-EL K, Bryce S, Hamilton M, Adams S, Burgat L, et al. Need for clinical neuropsychological assessment in headspace youth mental health services: A national survey of providers. Australian Journal of Psychology. 2019;71(2):108-16.
2. Levy E, Traicu A, Iyer S, Malla A, Joober R. Psychotic disorders comorbid with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: an important knowledge gap. Canadian journal of psychiatry Revue canadienne de psychiatrie. 2015;60(3 Suppl 2):S48-52.
3. Strålin P, Hetta J. First episode psychosis and comorbid ADHD, autism and intellectual disability. European Psychiatry. 2019;55:18-22.

Scholarships and fees

A stipend is not available for this project.

To complete this project as a MPhil:

Scholarships are available through the University of Melbourne. More information here.

Other scholarship opportunities may also be available but are highly competitive. Please speak to the contact person below for more information.

Domestic Master of Philosophy students do not incur fees. Information on University of Melbourne fees for international students is available here.

To complete this project as a PhD:

Scholarships are available through the University of Melbourne – find out more here.

Other scholarship opportunities may also be available but are highly competitive, so please speak to the contact person below for further details.

Information on fees for domestic and international students is available here.

How to apply        

To complete this project as a MPhil:

1. Read information for future students here, and check your eligibility here.
2. Read our frequently asked questions here.
3. Liaise with, and gain the support of, the supervisor/s. Please contact them using the details below and attach a copy of your CV and university transcript(s).
4. Once you’ve gained supervisor support, submit your application here.

To complete this project as a PhD:

1. Read information for future students here and check your eligibility here.
2. Read our frequently asked questions here.
3. Liaise with, and gain the support of, the supervisor/s. Please contact them using the details below and attach a copy of your CV and university transcript(s). 
4. Once you’ve gained supervisor support, follow the steps outlined by the University of Melbourne here. You can go straight to Step 3. 

You are strongly encouraged to submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Contact

Associate Professor Kelly Allott
[email protected]