Professor Lana Williams is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Emerging Research Fellow, psychologist, Deputy Director of the Population Health Pillar at IMPACT, and Co- Director of the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (GOS), one of the largest and comprehensive psychiatric epidemiological studies in Australia.
She has founded and continues to lead CONEXUS Research which is home to her research program aimed at understanding the interplay between mental disorders, associated treatment regimens, and physical disease. The program has grown to consist of a large team of postdoctoral fellows, research assistants, and higher degree research students.
What are some of your research highlights to date?
Over the years, I have led investigations examining the relationship between mental disorders, associated treatment regimens, and physical disease, which has led to over $15 million in project funding, numerous personal awards, and over 250 scientific publications to date.
What does your average working week look like?
I start my week by creating a weekly to-do list on Sunday night. Meetings with students, postdocs, and collaborators make up a large part of my week, so I need to be extremely organised and efficient to ensure I can deliver the necessary output for my career level as well as be present for my family and their pursuits! It’s a juggle!
What has driven you to this field of work?
Across the spectrum of mental disorders, life expectancy is substantially reduced in comparison to the general population due to a combination of poor physical health – related to comorbid noncommunicable diseases – and suicide, a recognised global phenomenon in need of urgent action.
An understanding of the scope of the problem, the long- term consequences of such relationships and mechanisms underlying the interplay between mental disorders, treatment regimens, and physical disease is needed. I currently oversee numerous multi-disciplinary, collaborative large-scale projects, including competitively funded epidemiological studies and basic science projects (both in vitro and in vivo) in this area of inquiry.
Why is this research important?
Identifying specific physical health risk factors, consequences, and underlying mechanisms is critical from a preventative and curative standpoint but also from an economic and public health perspective in terms of planning for and anticipating health and disability needs within the Australian population.
This information is also essential for bridging the gap between the physical and mental health systems and ultimately improving patient outcomes – this being the pinnacle.
In what ways is collaboration essential to your work?
Not one project is conducted in isolation. Expertise is sought locally, nationally, and internationally to ensure high-quality outcomes. For example, my collaborations with the University of Eastern Finland and Nord University have been in existence for over 15 years. We have shared data and resources, co-supervised numerous PhD students, facilitated study visits for all involved, and had successful grant funding applications. Research activities are constantly being planned and developed. Over my career, I have gained invaluable offshore experience from international exchanges.
What have been some of your career highlights to date?
Sustaining category one funding since 2011, including NHMRC fellowships, project grants and an Investigator grant. Being published in top-ranked global press, including Molecular Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, BMJ, The Lancet and World Psychiatry.
I was among the first to document a link between the first line pharmacological treatment for depression, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and reduced bone mineral density, which has led to a NHMRC funded program of work.
Being part of over 15 PhD student completions and then watching their careers grow and flourish!
More recently, being part of the team that have received $5 million in funding from the NHMRC Synergy Grant scheme to roll out our drug discovery platform to identify repurposed medications for the treatment of schizophrenia.
What is next for you?
All projects associated with my NHMRC Investigator grant, “Improving the understanding of physical disease in mental health” are continuing into 2025. Plus, startup meetings for the NHMRC Synergy Grant have commenced.
