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Professor Susan Rossell

Professor
PhD (Cognitive Neuropsychiatry), Kings College London, United Kingdom; BSc (Hons) Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

Biography

Professor Susan Rossell is a cognitive neuropsychologist and Professorial Research Fellow at Swinburne’s Centre for Mental Health. She also holds adjunct positions at Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre and at St Vincent's Health.

Professor Rossell’s research focuses on understanding the cognitive and neurobiological processes involved in psychosis and related disorders. She has published extensively and received both the International and European award for Young Investigator into Schizophrenia Research.

Prior to coming to Australia, Professor Rossell studied at the University of Manchester, the Institute of Psychiatry (part of King's College London) and Oxford University. She gained extensive experience in neuroimaging while undertaking a position at London’s world-renowned Functional Imaging Lab. In 2000 Professor Rossell was awarded a prestigious International Wellcome Post-doctoral Fellowship during which she spent time at Macquarie University. Before joining Swinburne, she also held roles as Head of the Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Department at the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria and at Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre.

Research interests

Schizophrenia and related disorders; Bipolar Disorder; Body Dysmorphic Disorder; Mood disorders; Cognitive neuroscience particularly audition, memory, emotion processing and language; Integration of language and memory systems; Neuroimaging including fMRI, EEG and eyetracking; Relationship between genes and cognition

PhD candidate and honours supervision

Higher degrees by research

Accredited to supervise Masters & Doctoral students as Principal Supervisor.

PhD topics and outlines

A longitudinal examination of the phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) in mood disorders: Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) represent a complex phenomenon that has typically served as a hallmark indicator of severe psychiatric illness. Characteristics of AVHs have been well-documented in schizophrenia, but have not been well-studied in mood disorders. This project will investigate AVH in mood disorders over a year.

Honours

Available to supervise honours students.

Honours topics and outlines

Cognitive flexibility and perfectionism in body image concerns: Theories looking to explain how body image disorders may have arisen have examined several constructs, one of which is perfectionism. A related construct receiving limited research attention is the study of cognitive flexibility. This online study aims to investigate perfectionism and cognitive flexibility detection in persons with body image concerns

Investigating cognition in body dysmorphic disorder: Patients with BDD have “imagined ugliness” and report that parts of their body are ugly or malformed. Recent evidence has begun to show that they also have problems recognizing visual processing, especially in recognising the emotional expressions in other people around them. The student will join an active team.

Mental in health in the general population during COVID: Prof Rossell's team started an online survey examining the mental health of the general population during the COVID pandemic. This survey is continuing. Three possible Hons projects are available: 1) looking at rates and predictors of domestic violence; 2) factors influencing quality of life and 3) rates and predictors of PTSD

Using brain imaging to investigate symptoms of schizophrenia: Patients with schizophrenia have a number of distressing symptoms. Prof Rossells group have been using brain imaging to unravel these symptoms. She has a number of active projects that students can join.

Fields of Research

  • Applied And Developmental Psychology - 520100
  • Biological Psychology - 520200
  • Clinical And Health Psychology - 520300
  • Cognitive And Computational Psychology - 520400
  • Social And Personality Psychology - 520500

Awards

  • 2015, Swinburne, International Womens Day Award: Significant Woman, Swinburne University
  • 2013, Swinburne, Vice Chancellors Research Excellence Award, Swinburne University
  • 2004, International, Young Investigator Award, Winter Workshop on Schizophrenia Research
  • 2002, International, Young Investigator Award, Winter Workshop on Schizophrenia Research
  • 1999, International, International Schizophrenia Research Young Investigator Award, International Congress of Schizophrenia Research

Publications

Also published as: Rossell, Susan; Rossell, S.; Lee Rossell, S.; Lee Rossell, Susan; Rossell, S. L.; Rossell, Susan L.; Rossell, Susan Lee
This publication listing is provided by Swinburne Research Bank. If you are the owner of this profile, you can update your publications using our online form.

Recent research grants awarded

  • 2023: Efficacy and safety of two versus three high dose psilocybin-assisted therapy sessions in comparison to an inactive control for treatment resistant major depressive disorder (TR-MDD): A double blind, 3-arm randomised controlled trial *; Woke Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd Fund Scheme
  • 2023: Investigating the role of sleep disturbance in predicting suicide ideation in chronic schizophrenia: A novel experience sampling study *; Brain & Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Young Investigator Grant
  • 2022: Avatar-mediated therapy for hallucinations: superiority trial (AMETHYST) *; Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grants
  • 2022: Using Speech to Identify Co-Morbid Depression in People with Schizophrenia *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2021: Can quantitative speech analysis techniques be used to identify people with depression? *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2021: Developing a blood test to aid in the diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2021: Human Brain Effects of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) via Intramuscular Injection *; Imperial College London
  • 2021: Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trial Network (MAGNET) *; MRFF Million Minds Mission
  • 2021: Pilot study investigating TMS for Body Dysmorphic Disorder *; Psyche Foundation Limited
  • 2020: A mixed-methods investigation of the retrospective reporting of sleep quality in schizophrenia spectrum disorder. *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2020: An investigation of mindfulness as a therapeutic tool in the prevention of suicide in early psychosis *; Australian Suicide Prevention Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship
  • 2020: The gut microbiome and depression in anorexia nervosa *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2020: Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2020: Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health *; St Vincent's Hospital
  • 2020: Using oxytocin to treat body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) *; Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund
  • 2019: A phase II randomized, double-blinded, placebo- controlled parallel group trial to examine the efficacy and safety of Bl 425809 once daily with adjunctive Computerized Cognitive Training over 12 week treatment period in patients with schizophrenia *; Boehringer Ingelheim Pty Limited
  • 2019: Do features of care and change in self-efficacy explain change in suicidal ideation at least six months after accessing a Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement (Hope) team *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2019: Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2018: 2018 visiting fellowship scheme A/Prof Katherine Burdick *; Swinburne Research, DVCR&D - Internal contributions
  • 2018: Hallucinations and cognition in relation to dementia in Parkinson?s disease (PD) *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2018: Identifying the physical and psychological factors involved in poor sleep in anorexia nervosa *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2018: OCD Research Support Fund donation from St Vincent's *; St Vincent's Hospital
  • 2018: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for Anorexia Nervosa *; Swiss Anorexia Nervosa Foundation Fund Scheme
  • 2017: A longitudinal examination of the phenomenology of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) in mood disorders *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2017: An investigation of neurocognitive abnormalities in anorexia nervosa. *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2017: Investigating the relationship between glutathione, mood and memory *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2017: Understanding the role of inhibitory dysfunction in affective network alteration and auditory verbal hallucinations in patients with bipolar disorder *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2016: ACESO Project: A collaborative neuroimaging and genetics healthy control database for psychiatric studies *; The University of Melbourne
  • 2016: An open-label pilot trial of N-acetyl cysteine treatment for body dysmorphic disorder *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2016: Can we explain accelerated cognitive ageing using the muscarinic system? *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2016: Evaluating a Novel Smartphone-Assisted Coping Strategy Intervention for Distressing Voices The SAVVy Study *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2016: How do depressive symptoms influence characteristics (phenomenology) of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) in persons without a need for care? *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2016: Investigating factors that influence the efficacy of cognitive remediation therapy inindividuals with schizophrenia *; Research Endowment Fund
  • 2016: N-Acetyl Cysteine In Schizophrenia Resistant to Clozapine: A Double-Blind Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial Targeting Negative Symptoms *; NHMRC Project Grants
  • 2016: Too stressed to think clearly? How microarray gene expression profiling can inform us about stress and cognition *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2016: Understanding trauma-related auditory verbal hallucinations: phenomenology and predictors *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2015: Nature's clocks and human mood: The neural basis of the 24-hour rhythm in reward motivation *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2015: Neuromagnetic correlates of semantic memory processing in health and depression: A magnetoencephalographic (MEG) study of semantic priming *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2015: NHMRC 2015 Standard Equipment Grant: LcModel *; NHMRC Standard Equipment Grant
  • 2015: Reward Sensitivity theory in Trichotillomania *; ARHRF Ian Scott Scholarship
  • 2015: The Impact of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Auditory Hallucinations on Localised Brain Activity, Attention and Subjective Experience *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2014: An examination of the characteristics (phenomenology) of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) in relation to mood in bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2014: An examination of the role of the BDNF gene in cognitive ageing and depression in healthy adults. *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2014: NHMRC 2014 Standard Equipment Grant: MEG compatible button boxes *; NHMRC Standard Equipment Grant
  • 2014: Using the latest neuroimaging and genetic advances to improve our understanding of hearing voices *; NHMRC Project Grants
  • 2013: Use of online technology to promote self-management and recovery in people with psychosis (MIRF) *; Victorian Mental Illness Research Fund
  • 2012: Characterizing semantic memory using cognitive, neuroimaging and genetic evidence *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2012: Comparison of the neurocognitive profiles in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression through the use of the MATRICS consensus cognitive battery *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2012: Neuromagnetic correlates of semantic memory processing: A magnetoencephalographic (MEG) study of semantic priming in healthy adults *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2012: Using MEG to better understand the temporal characteristics of auditory hallucinations *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2011: Psychophysiological Correlates of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD); possible early biomarkers *; Barbara Dicker Brain Science grant
  • 2011: Understanding Emotion Abnormalities in Bipolar Disorder *; Australian Rotary Health/Bipolar Expedition Research Project Grant
  • 2011: Understanding Emotion Abnormalities in Bipolar Disorder *; Helen Macpherson Smith Trust Grants

* Chief Investigator