Congratulations to Deakin Distinguished Professor Michael Berk, whose professional innovation in mental health research has been recognised with the 2024 Australian Mental Health Prize.
The Australian Mental Health Prize, established in 2016 by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), is an important initiative that recognises Australians who have made outstanding contributions to promoting mental health or preventing and treating mental illness. It aims to generate public awareness that will ultimately lead to improvements in treatment, services and individual outcomes.
Professor Berk is the Chair of Psychiatry at Deakin University and Barwon Health and the director of Deakin University’s Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT). His team’s work focuses on bridging the gap between research and clinical practice to provide real-world solutions for those suffering from mental health conditions.
‘The key to advancing mental health care lies in bridging the gap between innovative preclinical research and practical clinical applications.’
Professor Berk has led pioneering studies that have revolutionised the way we treat mental health care disorders. One of his team’s most innovative contributions is using stem cell technology to discover new ways current drugs can be repurposed for different disorders.
By developing a platform with patient-derived stem cells, his stem cell team, led by Professor Ken Walder, can identify existing medications to treat psychiatric disorders, speeding up the development of new treatments. This research is paving the way for new approaches to conditions like schizophrenia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Specifically, Professor Berk’s team has identified a medication that improves mitochondrial function, initially aimed at bipolar disorder, and now being explored for chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition with no approved medications.
‘Our stem cell platform allows us to quickly test and repurpose existing drugs, potentially offering new hope for conditions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and chronic fatigue syndrome, where treatment options are limited.’
‘Stem cell technology offers a revolutionary path to identifying new treatments for complex psychiatric conditions. By using patient-derived stem cells, we can repurpose existing medications, accelerating the development of therapies for mental health conditions and disorders like chronic fatigue syndrome, which currently has no approved medications.’ Professor Berk says.
As a leader in the field, he heads major research initiatives, including the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence for the Development of Innovative Therapies for Psychiatric Disorders (CREDIT) and the Mental Health Adult General Trial Network (MAGNET), Australia’s first mental health clinical trials network. These platforms facilitate collaboration among researchers and clinicians, ensuring that scientific discoveries are effectively translated into therapies that benefit patient.
Featured in below image: Deakin Distinguished Professor Michael Berk (IMPACT) and Emma McBride (Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and member for Dobell).
