Brain Stimulation for Eating Disorders: What the Trials Show
Brain Stimulation for Eating Disorders: What the Trials Show
EDFA
About this event
Join EDFA to hear the fascinating and promising clinical research trial results of Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre’s (MAPrc) recent Brain Stimulation for Eating Disorders Clinical Trial.
More than 43% of Australians are highly concerned about their body image. Negative body image affects people of all ages, genders and backgrounds. Negative body image is the strongest risk factor for the development of eating disorders, the most deadly of all mental health conditions.
The existence of effective treatment options for eating disorders is limited. MAPrc is implementing a suite of research focused on understanding the underlying biological causes and changes associated with these disorders so they can translate the findings into innovative and effective treatments. Trials include the use of antipsychotics medications, cannabinoid products, hormone treatment and brain stimulation devices.
Jayashri Kulkarni (AM) was appointed Professor of Psychiatry at The Alfred and Monash University in 2002. She founded and directs a large psychiatric research group, the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc), which over 160 staff and students covering seven different research streams, and conducting over 100 clinical trials.
Professor Kulkarni is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and was awarded a PhD from Monash University in 1997 for her thesis Women and Psychosis. Professor Kulkarni is a Fellow of the prestigious Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
She has specialised in the field of women’s mental health for 25 years and won numerous awards and accolades for her work. She is the current President of the International Association for Women’s Mental Health. In 2015, she founded the Australian Consortium for Women’s Mental Health. She has improved the quality of care for women with mental illnesses by developing specific treatments that are tailored to suit women’s needs biologically, socially and psychologically. Her work has been published in many national and international peer-reviewed publications. To date, Professor Kulkarni has authored in excess of 200 papers, 23 book chapters and 40 other publications.
As a psychiatrist, Professor Kulkarni has extensive clinical experience in many broad areas of practice. She has also trained in many research areas including psychoneuroendocrinology, clinical trials, psychopharmacology and is currently working in the area of the neuroscience impacts of early life trauma.
Professor Kulkarni is a well-known public speaker and has a great deal of experience with the media. She has been a regular presenter on ABC radio and has contributed to many other talkback radio programs as well as appearing on television programs such as the Insight series on SBS, and ABC 7.30 report. She is also a highly sought-after presenter having been invited to deliver keynote addresses at many international meetings and conferences in Australia and around the world.
Dr Chen is a registered medical practitioner, Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (FRANZCP) and Associate Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (AFRACMA). He is the Director of Psychiatry Training at Alfred Health and in clinical practice at Alfred health and Epworth Healthcare.
Dr Chen’s role at MAPrc combines clinical medical/psychiatric, research and teaching activities. He is an Investigator on several interventional trials at MAPrc investigating the therapeutic potential of novel pharmacological agents. He is undertaking a PhD researching improved efficacy and efficiency of TMS in the treatment of depressive disorders.
Dr Chen is actively involved in psychiatry teaching as a lecturer, tutor, examiner and is also engaged in Monash University’s Psychiatry Academy responsible for reviewing and developing the university’s psychiatry curriculum. Dr Chen is an accredited reviewer for the RANZCP Scholarly Project and coordinates a RANZCP-accredited Professional Peer Reveiw Group attended by TMS psychiatrists around Melbourne.