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Black Dog Institute will collaborate with more than 100 leading investigators across research, consumer and peak bodies, and industry partners to transform clinical trials in adult mental health, as part of an Australian-first network.
The Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trials Network (MAGNET) is a new mental health clinical research alliance that will drive practice change to help improve mental health and wellbeing.
Based at Deakin University, MAGNET has received almost $12 million in support from the Medical Research Future Fund’s (MRFF) ‘Million Minds Mission’ for an initial five-year project, funded by the Federal Government.
Black Dog Institute’s leading expertise in mental health research is well represented among the alliance of 50 Chief Investigators involved in MAGNET, including: Professior Helen Christensen, Director and Chief Scientist, Professor Samuel Harvey, Deputy Director and Chief Psychiatrist, Professor Colleen Loo, Professorial Fellow, Professor Phil Batterham, External Fellow, Professor Felice Jacka, External Fellow, and Professor Richard Bryant, External Fellow along with two associate investigators.
Professor Helen Christensen, Director and Chief Scientist at the Black Dog Institute, said MAGNET will fill a much-needed gap by providing greater coordination and collaboration between network investigators.
“Having a centrally-coordinated body for clinical trials in mental health will help researchers across the country tap into new breakthroughs more quickly, providing greater opportunities for these discoveries to reach communities across Australia,” said Professor Christensen.
“Black Dog Institute is thrilled to be a part of this ground-breaking alliance, as we collectively work to improve access to effective, evidence-based mental health therapies and treatments through high-quality clinical trials.”
About MAGNET
With a vision of unlocking innovative, world-class clinical trials to deliver new and better mental health treatment and support, MAGNET aims to transform the way mental health treatments are created and tested.
Working across therapies, comorbidity, treatment resistance and novel treatments, MAGNET also aims to prioritise lived experience leadership – including through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Network at the Black Dog Institute – and drive better access to mental health treatment in communities across Australia.
MAGNET partners include: Deakin University; Neurosciences Victoria; Swinburne University of Technology; Monash University; The University of Queensland; Black Dog Institute; the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Network; University of Melbourne; University of New South Wales; University of Sydney; Western Sydney University; University of Western Australia; Victoria University; Australian National University; The University of Adelaide; The University of Newcastle; Flinders University; University of the Sunshine Coast; University of Tasmania; Curtin University; The George Institute for Global Health; SANE Australia; Mental Health Australia; the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia; Prevention United; and mental health charity One in Five.
