Professor Christos Pantelis is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

professor of medicine who is the Director of the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre.

Profile

Prof. Christos Pantelis is an Australian of Greek background. He completed his medical degree at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

and trained at St Vincent's Hospital in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Two years later, in 1979, he commenced his training in psychiatry at the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known simply as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barn ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. During his training, he spent 18 months as a Research Registrar at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College London ...

to undertake an epidemiological study of

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

in Inner London. He was appointed as a lecturer at Charing Cross & Westminster Medical School (UK) in 1988. In this position, he worked in the Academic Unit at Horton and the Gordon Hospitals, headed by Professor Thomas R.E. Barnes. The unit was involved in a number of research studies in

including

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek grc, ψῡχή, psȳkhē, breath, life, soul, label=none; grc, φάρμακον, pharmakon, drug, label=none; and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on m ...

, studies on

movement disorder Movement disorder refers to any clinical syndrome with either an excess of movement or a paucity of voluntary and involuntary movements, unrelated to weakness or spasticity. Movement disorders are synonymous with basal ganglia or extrapyramidal d ...

, neuropsychological aspects of schizophrenia, as well as

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

and social psychiatric aspects of schizophrenia. In 1992, he was awarded the Lilly Travelling Fellowship of the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

and the King Edward's Hospital Fund for London, England. During this year, he was Travelling Research Fellow with the

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the prima ...

(Washington, DC), where he worked with Dr. Richard Coppola and Dr. Daniel Weinberger, developing a technique for volumetric analysis of brain

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

images. He then returned briefly to the UK as a Research Fellow. After his return from England at the end of 1992, Prof. Christos Pantelis worked at the Mental Health Research Institute and at Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital. He established the Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Research Unit, which is now based at both the Mental Health Research Institute and Sunshine Hospital. He also heads the Academic Unit at Sunshine Hospital. He became a Fellow of the

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) is the principal organisation representing the medical specialty of psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand and has responsibility for training, examining and awarding the qual ...

in 1999. Prof. Pantelis was Director of the inpatient rehabilitation program at Royal Park Hospital until mid-1996. During this time, he was responsible for the inpatient rehabilitation program and was instrumental in developing a comprehensive Model of Care for patients with long-term mental illness, and establishing a region-wide coordinating committee to oversee developments in delivery of services to these patients. He is currently Clinical Director and Principal Specialist for the Adult Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit (AMHRU) at Sunshine Hospital. This is a 26-beds unit for patients with treatment-resistant

psychoses Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior t ...

. He was actively involved in planning the movement of the Rehabilitation Unit to Sunshine Hospital and in the establishment of an Academic and Research Unit at that site. This included providing expertise into the architectural design of the new clinical and research units. These units opened in early 2000.

Achievements

Prof. Christos Pantelis has established an internationally recognised group in the field of

research, particularly in the neuropsychology and neuroimaging of the disorder. He has published numerous papers in peer reviewed journals, including papers in the Archives of General Psychiatry, as well as recent papers in Brain, Brain Research Reviews, Psychological Medicine, and other international journals. He has published a book on schizophrenia from a neuropsychological perspective. He is highly experienced in the application of both structural and functional brain imaging to psychiatric disorders and has been awarded a number of NH & MRC grants, as well as a major imaging grant from the Ian Potter Foundation. He is also a member of the NH & MRC Brain Network. This work has been internationally recognised with invited talks to the UK and Europe. He is part of an international group looking at the neurobiology of schizophrenia. This work was presented at a number of invited symposia in Europe and USA. His most recent work challenges the current neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia in showing progressive changes in this disorder. In particular they have demonstrated that brain structural abnormalities are occurring during the transition phase to psychosis in individuals at high risk for developing schizophrenia.

References

* * "Predicting the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder using gene pathway analysis" https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article/genetic-test-autism-refuted {{DEFAULTSORT:Pantelis, Christos Psychiatrists from Melbourne Australian psychiatrists Australian scientists Australian people of Greek descent Living people Year of birth missing (living people)