Queensland mental health research has received a boost with Ipswich Hospital Foundation (IHF) and The University of Queensland (UQ) announcing PhD scholarships to create new knowledge about mental disorders.
The scholarships are intended to support PhD students conducting research with mental health experts at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, a statewide Queensland Health research organisation based in West Moreton Health.
Ipswich Hospital Foundation CEO, Mr Scott Young, said he was excited to announce the new scholarship endowment fund, which had grown out of a long and established partnership with the Association of Relatives and Friends of the Mentally Ill (ARAFMI).
“In the early 2000s, the Sunshine Coast chapter of ARAFMI entrusted IHF with their hard-earned fundraising dollars to form a scholarship fund, a portion of which was awarded every few years to a PhD student supervised by researchers employed at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research and enrolled at UQ,” Mr Young said.
“Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research has partnered with UQ for nearly thirty years in the conduct of its mental health research programs, so we are excited that the University has matched funding contributed by ARAFMI and IHF dollar-for-dollar to create an endowment scholarship.
“This arrangement will see core funding invested and proceeds used to support scholarships for PhD students supervised at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research for generations to come.”
Executive Dean of UQ’s Faculty of Medicine, Professor Geoff McColl, said the University was proud to help fund PhD scholarships dedicated to mental health.
“PhD scholarships have kickstarted the careers of some of Queensland’s brightest mental health researchers, who have dedicated their research to helping people with severe mental health conditions such as schizophrenia,” Professor McColl said.
“Since 2006, the ARAFMI scholarships have funded 3 PhD students whose projects have made critical discoveries to help understand the origins of mental health conditions, and develop targets for their prevention and treatment.
“We’re pleased to be backing important research at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research and hope these scholarships will underpin vital new treatments, better services, and improved outcomes for people with mental disorders in the future.”
There is more information on the UQ Scholarships webpage.
Image: The University of Queensland PhD candidate Zilong Du
Image credit: The University of Queensland
