Associate Professor Melissa Green
TEAM LEADER PROFILE
My research is broadly focused on determining modifiable risk factors for the development of psychosis and mood disorders, using a combination of techniques from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, genetics, and more recently epidemiology. Major funded research themes include ‘imaging genetics’ investigations of psychotic and mood disorders, and population-level research to determine the interaction of biological and environmental risk factors for psychotic disorders over the life course. My early research focused on cognitive and emotion regulation disturbances in a variety of psychiatric disorders and high risk populations, and was translated into social cognitive remediation tools used increasingly in standard psychiatric care. I am now focusing my efforts on large, well characterised clinical and population samples where possible, to faciliate the integrated study of social and biological determininants of psychosis and related conditions. I am particularly interested in stress-related biological changes that may operate differently in response to stressors experienced at different developmental stages. These projects are conducted in close collaboration with NSW government partners and colleagues at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), the Black Dog Institute, and the UNSW School of Psychology, with other national collaborators at the University of Newcastle, Monash University, the University of Melbourne, and Macquarie University. I also collaborate with researchers at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands), and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (Germany).
Projects Associate Professor Melissa Green is currently involved with
CURRENT PROJECTS
Epigenetic and childhood trauma in psychotic and mood disorder
This project examines epigenetic (methylation) markers of childhood trauma in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients.READ MORE
Epigenetics and childhood trauma
The intergenerational transmission of criminal offending behaviours
Embedded within the NSW Child Development Study, this project examines the prevalence and correlates of behavioural problems among children born to parents with and without criminal offending histories.READ MORE
The intergenerational transmission of criminal offending behaviours
Targeting early contact with the criminal justice system in young people
Embedded within the NSW Child Development Study, this project aims to identify early life risk factors, developmental mediators and outcomes associated with criminal justice system contact for young people.READ MORE
Targeting early contact with the criminal justice system in young people
Determinants of risk and resilience in multi-agency administrative records: A population record-linkage study.
Embedded within the NSW Child Development Study, this project aims to determine dynamic ‘risk’ and ‘resilience’ states in maltreated children at ages 5 and 11 years, and the likelihood of transition between these states over time, in the context of other risk and protective factors.READ MORE
Determinants of risk and resilience in multi-agency administrative records: A population record-linkage study.
Identifying new targets for primary school mental health interventions using population data
Embedded within the NSW-CDS, this project evaluates the extent to which existing school-based mental health promotion and early intervention programs modify the expression of risk profiles for psychotic, mood, and behavioural disorders in middle childhood at an individual and population level.READ MORE
Identifying new targets for primary school mental health interventions using population data
NSW Child Development Study
This project established the NSW-CDS and aims to identify vulnerability and resilience factors emerging from birth to 11 years of age, that relate to the development of mental illness and other adverse outcomes in adolescence and adulthood.READ MORE
NSW Child Development Study
Epistatic genetic effects on brain structure in schizophrenia
This project uses data from the Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank to determine interactive genetic effects on brain structure and cognition in schizophrenia.READ MORE
Epistatic genetic effects on brain structure in schizophrenia
Childhood trauma and inflammatory markers
This project examines immune and stress response markers in association with epigenetic markers and brain structure/function in psychotic disorders.READ MORE
Childhood Trauma and Inflammatory Markers
Imaging Genetics in Psychosis Study
The Imaging-Genetics in Psychosis study aims to determine common stress-related pathology among schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients, in association with shared genetic vulnerabilities, cognitive deficits, and brain phenotypes.READ MORE
Imaging Genetics in Psychosis Study
RESEARCH TEAM
LEAH GIRSHKIN PhD Student
STACY TZOUMAKIS Lecturer
DR KRISTIN LAURENS Senior Research Scientist
JESSECA ROWLAND PhD Student
KIMBERLIE DEAN Principle Research Scientist
FELICITY HARRIS Research Officer
PROF VAUGHAN CARR Senior Principle Research Scientist
PUBLICATIONS
White matter measures are near normal in controlled HIV infection except in those with cognitive impairment and longer HIV duration.
Cysique LA, Soares JR, Geng G, Scarpetta M, Moffat K, Green M, Brew BJ, Henry RG, Rae C
The objective of the current study was to quantify the degree of white matter (WM) abnormalities in chronic and virally suppressed HIV-infected (HIV+) persons while carefully taking into account demographic and disease factors. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was conducted in 40 HIV- and 82 HIV+ men with comparable demographics and life style factors. The HIV+ sample was clinically stable with successful viral control. Diffusion was measured across 32 non-colinear directions with a b-value of 1000 s/mm; fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) maps were quantified with Itrack IDL. Using the ENIGMA DTI protocol, FA and MD values were extracted for each participant and in 11 skeleton regions of interest (SROI) from standard labels in the JHU ICBM-81 atlas covering major striato-frontal and parietal tracks. We found no major differences in FA and MD values across the 11 SROI between study groups. Within the HIV+ sample, we found that a higher CNS penetrating antiretroviral treatment, higher current CD4+ T cell count, and immune recovery from the nadir CD4+ T cell count were associated with increased FA and decreased MD (p < 0.05-0.006), while HIV duration, symptomatic, and asymptomatic cognitive impairment were associated with decreased FA and increased MD (p < 0.01-0.004). Stability of HIV treatment and antiretroviral CNS penetration efficiency in addition to current and historical immune recovery were related to higher FA and lower MD (p = 0.04-p < 0.01). In conclusion, WM DTI measures are near normal except for patients with neurocognitive impairment and longer HIV disease duration.
Common variation in ZNF804A (rs1344706) is not associated with brain morphometry in schizophrenia or healthy participants.
Quidé Y, Matosin N, Atkins JR, Fitzsimmons C, Cairns MJ, Carr VJ, , Green MJ
Contrary to some – but not all – previous findings, this study of a large sample of schizophrenia cases and healthy controls reveals no evidence for association between grey matter alterations and variation in rs1344706 (ZNF804A). Differences in sample sizes and ethnicities may account for discrepant findings between the present and previous studies.
Effects of childhood trauma on left inferior frontal gyrus function during response inhibition across psychotic disorders.
Quidé Y, O'Reilly N, Watkeys OJ, Carr VJ, Green MJ
Trauma-related increases in activation of the left IFG were not associated with performance differences, or dependent on clinical diagnostic status; increased IFG functionality may represent a compensatory (overactivation) mechanism required to exert adequate inhibitory control of the motor response.