Dr Andrea Phillipou

Biography

Dr Andrea Phillipou is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Mental Health at Swinburne University, and holds honorary positions in the psychiatry departments at St Vincent's Hospital and the Austin Hospital. She leads the Swinburne Anorexia Nervosa (SWAN) Research Group, and the Body Image & Eating Disorders Research Portfolio at St Vincent's Hospital. She also sits on the board of directors for Eating Disorders Families Australia (EDFA).

Dr Phillipou completed her PhD entitled 'Investigating the neurobiological and cognitive features of anorexia nervosa' at The University of Melbourne in 2015. She has since published 91 peer-reviewed journal articles and 3 book chapters. Her research has been presented on over 100 occasions at national and international conferences, and has been featured in the media on over 100 occasions. Dr Phillipou has led and collaborated on a number of research projects, receiving over $13 million in competitive research funding, including a recent NHMRC Project Grant (CIA).

Dr Phillipou’s research spans across many areas of mental health and neuroscience, but is focused predominantly on eating disorders - specifically, research that is focused on improving the lives of people with anorexia nervosa. Her research uses comprehensive neurobiological, biological, psychological and sociocultural (neuro-bio-psycho-social) methods and is focused predominantly on three distinct but related streams in anorexia nervosa:

1- Understanding the factors and mechanisms involved in the development and maintenance,
2- Developing tools (e.g. biomarkers) that can be used for more accurate diagnosis, early intervention and prevention, and
3- Developing more effective interventions and treatments.

Dr Phillipou also has an interest in the evaluation and improvement of clinical services and support programs for people with eating disorders (and their supports) across the continuum of care.

Dr Phillipou is experienced in the use of various methodologies including the use of psychiatric, psychological, neurocognitive and physiological assessments, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and neurostimulation. She holds particular expertise in eye movement assessments and eyetracking, as well as visual perception and neuroscience.

A key focus of Dr Phillipou's work involves working collaboratively on research with scientists from other disciplines, individuals with lived experience, families/carers, clinicians, service providers and not-for-profit organisations.

To read more about the work undertaken by Dr Phillipou and the SWAN team, please visit: tinyurl.com/swan-research

In 2017, Dr Phillipou and her team established the Body Image & Related Disorders (BIRD) Conference. For more information, please visit: tinyurl.com/BIRD21

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to help fund our research in anorexia nervosa, please contact Dr Phillipou.