ClearThinking - QSRF Research Projects
The Foundation prioritises projects that help ’translate’ basic science/laboratory findings into new clinical treatments and improve existing treatments.
Currently the Foundation's major aim is to establish a Research Centre for Youth Mental Health in Brisbane, building local research capacity, and providing excellent healthcare services for young people in Queensland.
The Reserch Centre will:
- Reduce diagnosis time of people with severe mental disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which currently are delayed by 5 - 10 years on average.
- Improve early intervention and treatment, reducing the rates of young people developing a lifelong mental illness. 75% of all mental disorder starts before the age of 25 years, so young people are prime targets for early intervention and prevention.
- Improve specialist treatment rates for young Queenslanders. Mental disorder is the commonest health problem young people encounter. In any one year, 1 in 4 will suffer a diagnosable mental disorder. Less then 20% of young people with a mental disorder get any effective primary mental healthcare. Only 3% of young people with a mental disorder access specialist community mental healthcare.
ClearThinking Position Statement
Research Centre for Youth Mental Health Business Model
Research Centre Question and Answer Fact Sheet
Proforma Letter to support our Reserach Centre for Youth Mental Health
Research that focuses on the assessment of young people at risk of serious mental illness is the best approach to securing the future of our young people. The energetic long-term engagement of young people in the RCYMH research program will map the trajectories of the mental health problems throughout adolescence and young adulthood. Over time, the research program will design better clinical assessment tools and help identify the best time and mode of pre-emptive intervention for young peolple with mental illness.
How to help establish a Research Centre for Queensland:
If you can offer a little of your time and encourage other interested people to help, please consider registering with our volunteer network - Friends of Clear Thinking.
For those able to help financially, the QSRF offers a personal relationship and considerable flexibility in regard to how donations are directed. All donations over $2.00 are tax deductible.
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What is translational research?
Translational research seeks to translate advances from the laboratory into ‘real life’ clinical practice must have effective integration of basic and applied research that translates into areas of early detection, diagnosis, therapy and intervention
requires interdependence between basic and clinical investigators in the planning and implementation of research.
- better ways to earlier diagnose bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
- establishing ‘drug models’ validity used for preclinical testing of novel compounds for their antipsychotic, mood stabilising and cognitive enhancing properties
- research into new methodologies for measuring service and practice quality and its relationship to patient and family outcomes
- novel treatment effectiveness studies.
Technical reports and publications
>> The psychotomimetic effects of PCP, LSD and MDMA: Pharmacological models of schizophrenia? (316kb)
This document is the unabridged manuscript upon which a chapter describing pharmacological models of schizophrenia is based. It may be cited as: Catts VS & Catts SV. The psychotomimetic effects of PCP, LSD and MDMA: Pharmacological models of schizophrenia? In (Eds. PS Sachdev, N Keshaven) Secondary Schizophrenia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010, pp. 141-168.
>> Identifying the young person at risk of psychosis – Medicine Today (368kb)
>> Identifying the young person at risk of psychosis (references) – Medicine Today (128kb)
This document, installed with permission, was published in an un-indexed journal, Medicine Today. The document describes a framework for early identification of young people at risk of psychosis which involves early specialist assessment when mental health difficulties do not resolve with simple first-line interventions offered in primary care. The correct citation is: Catts SV (2008) Identifying the young person at risk of psychosis. Medicine Today 9, 61-65.