Dr Ruwanthi De Alwis Seneviratne is a RANZCP Fellow and Clinical Academic Psychiatrist at Monash Health. Dr Seneviratne was awarded the 2024 RANZCP Foundation Early Research Career Grant.

Project: Identification of a novel biomarker to predict future treatment resistance in early psychosis

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness and is associated with significant disability.
About one-third of patients have treatment resistant schizophrenia (TRS), a more debilitating form of the illness with poorer outcomes.

Betacellulin (BTC), a protein ligand of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) system has been shown to be significantly reduced in blood (plasma) in patients with treatment resistant schizophrenia, compared to treatment responsive schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders.

The aim of this study is to evaluate if a simple blood test measuring plasma betacellulin levels in people with first episode psychosis combined with clinical features already associated with TRS improves detection to a clinically useful level.

Developing a simple predictive tool for TRS will transform the clinical care and outcomes for young people with TRS by enabling early access to clozapine treatment and supportive interventions.

The Early Research Career Grants are designed to encourage innovative research in psychiatry and to support those who are new to research or intend to have a career in research.

Value: Up to A$10,000.

Key dates: Opens 1 June 2025 and closes 31 July 2025.