American to Head Australian Research Unit

A U.S. doctor has been chosen to head Australia’s Professorial Chair of Schizophrenia Research, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.

Dr. Cynthia Shannon Weickert, chief of the MINDS unit at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, was selected after an extensive international search by the University of New South Wales and the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute.

The institutions are hosting the position, which was established by the Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders.

Announcing Shannon Weickert’s appointment during Mental Health Week, New South Wales Health Minister John Hatzistergos said that $5.9 million will be invested in the program over five years through funding from the government and the partner institutions.

Hatzistergos said the group hopes to make some major breakthroughs in its research. We do know that it is possible to one day anticipate that we will have a cure towards schizophrenia, he said.