NEW TREATMENTS FOR PATIENTS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS
Associate Professor Bernadette Fitzgibbon
Director of Psychiatry Research
Paratus Clinical, Australia &
Associate Professor,
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Melbourne, Australia | November 2025
Associate Professor Bernadette Fitzgibbon is a neuroscientist with several decades of experience in researching, developing, and translating novel therapies for mental health and chronic pain conditions. This includes the application and optimisation of brain stimulation and psychedelic therapies, overseeing large multi-site intervention trials, both within Australia and abroad. Through her work, she has developed meaningful collaborations with consumers, volunteers, policy makers, and services providers, ensuring that the outcomes of her work contribute towards real-world clinical impact.
She is currently the Director of Psychiatry Research at Paratus Clinical, where she leads the delivery of clinical trials in emerging therapies for psychiatry, collaborating with academic institutions, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. She is also an Associate Professor at the Australian National University, where she contributes to novel investigator-initiated trials within interventional psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, and a consultant at The Psychedelic Consultancy: a hub to connect and support professionals navigate the legal psychedelic assisted psychotherapy ecosystem in Australia and internationally. Together, she is dedicated to changing the landscape of mental health treatments to improve the outcomes for people living with mental illness.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5339-5304
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Links investigated between poor sleep and onset of dementia
Watch Samantha Bramich, a PHD candidate at the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, University of Tasmania talk on identify the prevalence of rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) in Tasmania and how poor sleep contributes to the onset of dementia and other diseases.
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Renal care & data linkage of Tasmanian kidney disease cases
Professor Matthew Jose is a Renal Physician & Head of the Renal Unit at the Royal Hobart Hospital, and Professor of Medicine for the University of Tasmania.
Winner of the 2021 Rural Science Award from the Australia and New Zealand Society of Nephrology, he has worked in regional, rural and remote Australian locations for nearly 20 years as a Renal Physician, including the Northern Territory.
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Novel therapies & next-gen medical devices in cardiovascular & vascular disease management
Professor Shirley Jansen AM is a distinguished vascular and endovascular surgeon whose career spans clinical leadership, academic excellence, and pioneering research. She currently holds the Lawrence-Brown Chair of Vascular Surgery at Curtin University’s School of Population Health and serves as Head of the Department of Vascular Surgery at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, a role she has held since 2015. In addition, she is the Director of the Heart & Vascular Research Institute at the Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research. Her early career was marked by prestigious fellowships, including a British Heart Foundation Research Fellowship (1996), and multiple international travelling fellowships from leading surgical societies and industry sponsors between 2001 and 2002.
