Congratulations to the seven recipients of the 2025 Beverley Raphael New Investigator Grant: Dr Dean Andronis, Dr Grace House, Dr Ria George, Dr Laurant Kange, Dr Milla McLean, Dr Yalan Mo and Dr Michael Weightman.

Dr Dean Andronis and Dr Grace House

A guideline for clozapine commencement in treatment resistant schizophrenia

Dr Dean Andronis and Dr Grace House are Stage 1 psychiatry registrars at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

This project aims to create clear, practical guidance on how to safely start clozapine for people with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. 

Clozapine is effective but complex to use, and current advice varies widely between services and countries. This study will bring together international experts with experience in clozapine prescribing and ask them to share their views through a series of online surveys. 

Using a structured consensus method, the project will identify expert-agreed best practices for assessments before starting clozapine, how to increase doses safely, how to tailor treatment to individual patients in different settings, how to monitor for and manage common and rare adverse effects, and how to safely restart clozapine after missed doses. 

Existing research and guidelines will be reviewed to inform the surveys. 

The project will result in expert‑informed recommendations that may help support safer, more consistent clozapine use and inform efforts to improve patient outcomes.

Dr Ria George

Mental health experiences & needs of young people during IBD Transition – A counties Manukau perspective

Dr George is a Stage 2 Psychiatry Registrar at Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau.

Young people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in New Zealand face many challenges, not only with their physical health but also with their mental and emotional wellbeing.

The transition from paediatric to adult hospital services can be particularly stressful, as young people assume more responsibility for their health and adjust to new healthcare teams. 

This study aims to understand how young people experience and make sense of their mental health during this transition period.

Through one-on-one interviews with participants, the research will explore participants’ mental health experiences, needs, and supports.

It is hoped the findings may inform the design of IBD transition programs, with a focus on mental health considerations in the local context.

Dr Laurant Kang

Social determinants of health, epigenetic aging and their influences on cognitive trajectories for older adults

Dr Kang is a Psychiatry of Old Age trainee with Hunter New England Network and a PhD candidate with the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing.

Social determinants of health (SDoH) such as education, housing stability and social connections play a major role in shaping brain health as people age. Individuals who experience long-term social disadvantage are known to have a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia, but the biological pathways linking social experiences to brain ageing are not well understood.

This project will explore whether social experiences influence cognitive ageing through their effects on biological ageing processes. Using large-scale international datasets of older adults, including information on SDoH, blood-based biological markers and longitudinal cognitive assessments, this study will examine how social disadvantage relates to biological ageing and changes in cognitive function. 

Importantly, the project will also investigate why some people maintain good cognitive health despite experiencing social adversity, focusing on factors linked to biological resilience.

The findings are intended to support earlier identification of people at risk of cognitive decline and help inform more targeted, equitable strategies to promote healthy ageing and improve psychogeriatric care.

Dr Milla McLean

Exploring blood immune markers in psychiatric disorders and early‑onset dementia

Dr McLean is an RANZCP trainee at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne Health.

This exploratory study examines a broad range of blood-based proteins – including cytokines, growth factors, soluble factors, proteases and chemokines – using multiplex methods on serum samples from individuals living with primary psychiatric conditions (major depressive disorder, bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia), as well as early onset dementia, specifically behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia.

The study provides a valuable opportunity to compare both well-known and lesser-known inflammatory markers across these groups, responding to calls for further investigation using wide panels of cytokines and chemokines, particularly in major depressive disorder and bipolar affective disorder.

Acknowledging its exploratory scope, this study aims to narrow down analytes and sample groups for future larger proof-of-concept studies. This work is intended to contribute to a larger body of research looking at inflammatory profiles and mechanisms in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.

Dr Yalan Mo

Mental health staff perspectives on home visits in Aotearoa New Zealand: A cross-sectional survey

Dr Yalan Mo is a registrar with Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand.

Psychiatric home visits are a routine part of mental health service provision across Aotearoa New Zealand, involving doctors, nurses and allied health staff. This study will use an anonymous nationwide survey to gather data from Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand staff on their experiences of risk incidents during home visits and their perceptions of existing home visit policies, decision-making processes, police support, safety training, and perceived barriers to raising concerns. 

This study will compare responses across professional roles and demographics to determine if there are systematic differences between groups. 

The data will provide an evidence base for discussions around the safe conduct of home visits by Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand staff, and may help inform future service development.

Dr Michael Weightman

Attitudes of medical students towards artificial intelligence in psychiatry teaching

Dr Michael Weightman is a lecturer and PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide. He is also a consultant psychiatrist at the Central Adelaide Local Health Network.

This project seeks to answer the research question, ‘What are medical students’ attitudes towards the use of artificial intelligence in psychiatry education?’

It will qualitatively explore medical students’ perceptions of both current and potential uses of AI in psychiatry education by using focus groups to collect relevant data. 

The study aims to identify the perceived benefits, concerns and limitations of incorporating AI-based tools in psychiatry teaching from a student perspective. 

It is intended that the findings may help inform future pedagogical approaches for how AI is used in educating medical students in psychiatry.

Read more about this and other RANZCP Foundation-supported projects in the 2025 Impact Report.