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| Dr Rachel Hill |
The School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS)
welcomes NHMRC Career Development Fellow Dr Rachel Hill, who has recently
joined the Department of Psychiatry.
A former laboratory head and senior research officer at the
Florey Institute, Dr Hill is head of the Behavioural Neuroscience laboratory, Department
of Psychiatry.
“I moved to the Monash Health Translation Precinct (MHTP)
because of the unique opportunity to merge our preclinical animal model work
with clinical work from Professor Suresh Sundram's laboratory—all in the one
translational facility,” said Dr Hill.
“This new molecular psychiatry division developed by
Professor Sundram will see discovery neuroscientists working together with psychiatrists
to develop effective treatment strategies for mental health disorders.”
Psychiatric
disorders are thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and
environmental disturbances or ‘risk-factors’.
“Our
laboratory models these risk factors in mice to understand at the molecular,
physiological and behavioural level how these disturbances contribute to mental
health. We use a number of different
techniques, including genetic manipulation, mouse behavioural testing,
molecular biology, in vivo electrophysiology and human clinical studies.”
Dr
Hill said her collaborative research team endeavours to provide the most
optimal treatment strategy for people with a mental illness.
As well as utilising the state-of-the-art core facilities
located at MHTP, the behavioural neuroscience laboratory are developing a new
behavioural facility at Monash Health with highly innovative touchscreen based
cognitive testing units for mice. This facility will also be available for
other MHTP researchers.
“As new researchers to MHTP with interests in
neuroinflammation, prenatal brain development, and genetic contributions to
mental health disorders, we are eager to collaborate and welcome any
aligning interests in our research,” said Dr Hill.
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