Keynote Speakers

Professor Cheri Levinson

Professor Cheri A. Levinson is a Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Louisville and Director of the Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) lab. She is also the Founder and Clinical Director of the Louisville Center for Eating Disorders, the only specialized eating disorder clinic in Kentucky. As Vice Chair of the Kentucky Eating Disorder Council, she works to improve treatment access in the state. Prof. Levinson's research focuses on developing new treatments for eating disorders using advanced technologies like network analysis, ecological momentary assessment, and wearable sensors. She has published over 135 peer-reviewed papers and is the principal investigator of several clinical trials on exposure therapy and personalized treatments. Her awards include the 2021 Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award and the 2020 APA Theo Blau Award. Clinically, Prof. Levinson treats individuals with eating disorders, specializing in comorbid disorders like OCD and anxiety using evidence-based cognitive-behavioral techniques. She has experience in all levels of eating disorder care and trained at the University of North Carolina's Center of Excellence in Eating Disorders. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, where she developed technology-based treatments.

Professor Luke Wolfenden

Luke Wolfenden is Director of the ‘National Centre of Implementation Science’ and of the WHO Evidence Informed Policy Network at the University of Newcastle and co-Director of Cochranes Thematic Group ‘People, health systems and Public Health. He is passionate about the use of evidence to improve public health decision making and ensuring that evidence-based policies are well implemented so they can benefit those for whom they are intended.

Speakers

Associate Professor Emily Stockings

Associate Professor Emily Stockings is an NHMRC Investigator Fellow (2024–2029) and serves as the Program Lead of 'Smoking, Vaping and Mental Health' at the Matilda Centre, University of Sydney. She holds a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and a PhD. Her research focuses on reducing the use and harms associated with smoking and e-cigarettes, particularly among adolescents and individuals with mental health conditions. Emily has contributed to numerous publications in the field and is recognised for her expertise in mental health and substance use prevention.

Professor Susan Rossell

Professor Susan Rossell is a cognitive neuropsychologist and Professorial Research Fellow at Swinburne's Centre for Mental Health. She holds an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship and has extensive experience in cognitive neuropsychology. Susan's research is internationally recognised, particularly her work on the neuropsychology of schizophrenia and body dysmorphic disorder. She has published over 640 research articles and has been cited more than 14,000 times.

Dr Trevor Steward

Dr Trevor Steward is an NHMRC/MRFF Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, where he also serves as the Director of the Brain and Mental Health Hub. His research focuses on using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to understand the neurobiological basis of mental health conditions. Trevor has extensive experience in analysing fMRI data to investigate psychiatric disorders and aims to translate these findings into improved clinical outcomes.

Associate Professor Robyn Brown

Robyn Brown is a DECRA Fellow and laboratory head in the Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology. She completed her PhD at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2010 and a Bachelor of Commerce/Science (hons) in 2004 at the University of Melbourne. In 2011, she received a Sir Keith Murdoch Fellowship to train at the Medical University of South Carolina, focusing on neuroplasticity in drug addiction. Robyn established research on the links between drug addiction and overeating, continuing this work upon her return to Australia in 2014 at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. Her lab investigates the neural mechanisms behind behaviors like loss-of-control eating and drug addiction, using a range of cutting-edge techniques, including electrophysiology, optogenetics, and viral methods.

Dr Morgan James

Dr. Morgan James leads translational neuroscience laboratories at the University of Sydney (Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Australia) and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (Rutgers University, USA). His research program focuses on characterising the brain systems involved in psychiatric conditions, including eating disorders. Dr. James also leads an active drug discovery program, providing a direct ‘pipeline’ to translate basic sciences discoveries into new treatments. A central aim of his work is to ensure that medication development is guided by the needs and experiences of those living with eating and related disorders, supporting treatments that complement psychological care

Professor Nick Haslam

Professor Nick Haslam is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Melbourne. He received his BA (Hons) from the University of Melbourne and his MA and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Nick's research interests include social, personality, and clinical psychology, with a focus on psychiatric classification, prejudice, and refugee mental health. He has taught and written extensively in these fields and is known for coining the term "concept creep" to describe society's increasing sensitivity to harm.

Associate Professor Xochitl de la Piedad Garcia

Associate Professor Xochitl de la Piedad Garcia completed her licenciatura in Psychology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and her PhD in Experimental Psychology at SUNY Stony Brook. She joined Australian Catholic University (ACU) in 2007, where she has developed and taught statistics subjects across various levels. Xochitl's research focuses on behavioural psychology, and she has published extensively in this area. She is also involved in initiatives to enhance student engagement through the use of reward contingencies in online activities.

Dr Matthew Varidel

Mathew Varidel is a postdoctoral research fellow within the Brain and Mind Centre Digital Mental Health Team. His expertise is in the real-world application of statistical models to learn causal pathways and aid decision-making for mental health problems. His work has allowed for improved identification of the multiple dynamic interacting factors related to mental health, the emergence of suicidal ideation, and to understand the causal effects of interventions on eating disorder symptoms. These learnings are now being adapted into clinical decision-making tools, with the aim of identifying intervention targets that optimally alleviate mental ill-health and improve overall wellbeing.

Professor Jennie Hudson

As a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia, Professor Hudson has made distinguished contributions to understanding the factors that contribute to young people’s mental health. She has worked to improve the services available to young people experiencing anxiety and depression through the development and validation of innovative, accessible interventions.

Before starting at the Black Dog Institute, Jennie was the Director of the Centre for Emotional Health at Macquarie University and was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship (2013-2016), and a Visiting Fellowship, University of Oxford (2015-20).

Panels and Workshops

Lived Experience-Led Panel with Interactive Discussion

Facilitator

Shannon Calvert

Shannon is a Lived Experience professional, having worked with government and non-government organisations in an advisory capacity, as a peer-work co-ordinator and mental health trainer.
She is involved with several national Boards and committees, mainly mental health, eating disorders and palliative care specific. Shannon is the Lived Experience Co-Production Co-Lead at the Australian Eating Disorders Research and Translation Centre and Consumer Co-chair of the National Mental Health Consumer Carer Forum. Recently she was appointed to the Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission expert advisory panel to guide Australia’s future roadmap in mental health.

Panelist

Amaya Alvarez

Amaya Alvarez works as a casual researcher (family & carer) in the School of Global Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University. She is also working with Mind Australia on family and carer projects. She brings to her roles her lived experience expertise from working in research and advocacy and her lived/living experience from across the generations, supporting a young adult with mental health issues including an eating disorder, as well as experience supporting a sibling and a parent in AOD and mental health. She is passionate about lived experience informed, framed and generated research.

In her own research space, she is at the pointy end of a PhD that draws on her lived experience community and the impacts of the NDIS for family.