Peter Goodenough Memorial Lecture 2024: Understanding mental disorders - bridging insights from the brain
Mental disorders are widespread, with nearly half of us likely to experience at least one during our lifetime. Often emerging in early adulthood, these conditions can persist for many years. Over the past 50 years, our understanding of the brain has grown significantly, enabling the development of new theories about the causes of mental disorders. In this talk, I will explore theories related to the origins of schizophrenia. Neuroscience is a dynamic and rapidly advancing field, and institutions like the Queensland Brain Institute are at the forefront of this research. In the coming decades, we can anticipate continued progress in our understanding of mental disorders.
John McGrath is a psychiatrist interested in discovering the causes of serious mental disorders. He was the Director of the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research and is conjoint Professor at the Queensland Brain Institute. His research aims to generate and evaluate nongenetic risk factors for schizophrenia. He has forged productive cross-disciplinary collaborations linking risk factor epidemiology with developmental neurobiology. He was awarded a John Cade Fellowship by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, and a Niels Bohr Professorship by the Danish National Research Foundation. He has been awarded the Erik Strömgren Medal and the Lieber Prize for Outstanding Schizophrenia Research.
This lecture is named in honour of the late Mr Peter Goodenough (1936 – 2004), a QBI benefactor, whose personal battle with motor neuron disease (MND) led to an inspirational bequest for fundamental scientific research. These funds were used to establish, staff and support the Peter Goodenough and Wantoks Research Laboratory and are a showcase example of how members of the community can make a powerful and lasting contribution to the future health of all Australians. Mr Goodenough resolved to ensure his personal wealth would be directed to fighting MND, even though he knew he would personally not benefit from the research.
About Peter Goodenough Memorial Lecture
The Peter Goodenough Lecture is an annual lecture to honour the legacy of giving by Mr Peter Goodenough (1935 – 2004) and is supported by the Peter Goodenough bequest. It is to be given by a prominent speaker who will target the role and importance of philanthropy and science funding to biomedical research.
The bequest, which included funding for a research laboratory is a showcase example of how members of the community can make a powerful and lasting contribution to the future health of all Australians. Mr Goodenough resolved to ensure his personal wealth would be directed to fighting MND, even though he knew he would personally not benefit from the research.
Venue
Building 79
The University of Queensland