RANZCP and NTPHN Introduces Professor Mark Bellgrove

Mark Bellgrove is Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience in the School of Psychological Sciences, at Monash University, where he leads a multidisciplinary team studying the biological basis of attention and cognitive control in both health and disorder (eg ADHD). His group has made significant progress in defining the molecular genetic architecture and neurochemical drivers of attention and cognitive control. 

Professor Bellgrove has been at the forefront of international efforts to identify objective and quantifiable indices of genetic risk, termed endophenotypes, for ADHD. His early work identified reliable linkages between catecholamine risk genes for ADHD and distinct neurocognitive profiles. This work was published in high impact journals, has attracted high citations and continues to be influential in shaping the way the field approaches the issue of clinical and aetiological heterogeneity that besets psychiatric genetics. With papers in top-tier journals including Molecular Psychiatry, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Human Behaviour, Neuron and the Journal of Neuroscience, Professor Bellgrove is a recognized international expert on the molecular genetics of attention and attention deficit. The research achievements of Professor Bellgrove have been recognized with awards from NARSAD (USA), the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and Biological Psychiatry Australia. In 2021 he was elected to Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA). In 2021 he was also recognised as Supervisor of the Year within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University.

His programme of research is funded by both the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and Australian Research Council (ARC). He currently holds an NHMRC Investigator Grant (Level 2). In 2016 Professor Bellgrove founded the Australian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA), an interdisciplinary group devoted to advancing evidence-based diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in Australia. He led the development of the Australian evidence-based clinical practice guideline for ADHD, which was approved by the NHMRC in October 2022. With international colleagues he has recently published a state-of-the-art primer on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)