Schizophrenia Masterclass

Professor Siskind trained as a psychiatrist in Australia and the United States. He works clinically as a psychiatrist in Brisbane, Australia with people with treatment refractory schizophrenia.

His research interests include treatment refractory schizophrenia, clozapine and the physical health comorbidities associated with schizophrenia.

He has over 300 publications AU$60million in competitive research grants, with over AU$7 million as CIA.

Associate Professor Nicole Korman is a clinical academic rehabilitation psychiatrist. She lectures at QUT in exercise and mental health, where she is an adjunct Associate Professor, and chairs the Statewide Physical Health Working Group for residential and secure mental health services in Queensland. She has co-authored 50 publications in lifestyle psychiatry and the holistic recovery of people with severe mental illness. She is undertaking a PhD at University of Queensland investigating exercise in the rehabilitation of people with schizophrenia.

Professor Sharon Lawn is Executive Director of Lived Experience Australia, a national awarded mental health Lived Experience systemic advocacy, research and capacity building organisation. Prof Lawn is also a Professor in Public Health at Flinders University where she has undertaken a broad range of translational mental health research for almost 3 decades. Prof Lawn has more than 300 publications and has secured over $43 million in research funding. She is particularly passionate about addressing co-occurring physical health and mental health, stigma and coercion in care, and exploring the person’s and their family’s experiences of healthcare systems.

Professor Shuichi Suetani is Senior Psychiatrist at the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH), the largest Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation in Australia.

Alongside his psychiatry training, Prof Shuichi completed a PhD exploring the epidemiological relationships between physical activity and mental disorders. He has more than 100 peer reviewed publications, several book chapters, and over 100 professional presentations.

Prof Shuichi currently sits on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Psychiatry and previously held the roles of Associate Editor for the ANZJP and deputy editor for Australasian Psychiatry.

Shuichi was the co convenor for the RANZCP Congress 2025 on the Gold Coast and has contributed to a range of roles within the RANZCP, including the Diploma of Psychiatry Curriculum Authorship Steering Group, the Committee for Educational Evaluation, Monitoring and Reporting, the Written Exam Question Writing Team, and the Trainees Representative Committee. 

Professor Shuichi Suetani was elected to the Board in May 2026 for a two-year term.

Dr Dark is a graduate of the University of Queensland. She became a psychiatrist in 1991 and has worked in the public mental health system as a consultant psychiatrist since 1991. She has delivered cognitive remediation (CR) since 2006 and has trained clinicians in CR since 2010. Currently she is also Director of the Rehabilitation services in Metro South Addiction and Mental Health service.  She is an advocate of comprehensive care that includes access to evidence- based psychosocial interventions. In 2019 she was awarded a PhD examining the implementation of Cognitive Remediation and Social Cognition Interaction Training into routine mental health care.