Developmental Neuropsychiatry Research

Developmental Neuropsychiatry Research is conducted through the Academic Child Psychiatry Unit (ACPU) and provides comprehensive assessment for children and adolescents with psychiatric and mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, autism, early-onset psychotic symptoms, conduct and attentional problems and impulsiveness. Our assessments provide young people and their families with information and ongoing advice about medication, psychological treatments and monitoring of these treatments.

The ACPU is a clinical research collaboration between Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the University of Melbourne's Department of Paediatrics and is located at the Royal Children's Hospital.

Research overview

We develop innovative clinical research programs to improve the understanding of:

• Factors that predispose children and adolescents to either resilience against, or risk of developing, psychiatric and mental health conditions
• How to best treat conditions using either medical or psychological treatments, or a combination of both
• How to monitor the effectiveness of medical and / or psychological treatments, in terms of the behavioural, cognitive and emotional outcomes for patients

We aim to:

• Conduct research into the common psychiatric disorders that affect children and adolescents including oppositional defiant/conduct disorder(s), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, combined type (ADHD-CT), dysthymic disorder, major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and panic disorder
• Conduct high quality clinical research into mental health aspects that affect the onset, progression and treatment effectiveness of disorders including Turner syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, persistent headaches, chronic epilepsy and dermatitis
• Collaborate with Orygen Youth Health and adult mental clinical research groups to investigate childhood precursors to adult onset psychiatric disorders including paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and antisocial and borderline personality disorders

Our research adheres to state and national mental health policy, so that research findings can be of direct relevance to clinical services and patients.