Anthony Harris AM

Professor

Centre Director

MBBS, PhD

anthony.harris@sydney.edu.au

Brain Dynamics Centre

Schizophrenia Group

Anthony Harris AM

Biography

Professor Anthony Harris is a consultant psychiatrist with a special interest in early intervention and psychosis. He is the Centre Co-Director of the Brain Dynamics Centre at WIMR and head of the specialty of Psychiatry in the Sydney Medical School. His clinical and research interests include psychophysiology, neuroimaging, and the treatment of psychotic and mood disorders using both psychological and physical modalities. He has been active in organisations advocating and providing services to people with a severe mental illness. He is on the board of Mind Australia and the chair of the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Research Trust Fund.

Research interests

Professor Harris’ research covers: (a) psychophysiology and neuroimaging of first-episode psychosis, schizophrenia and major depression (b) clinical treatment of these conditions, and (c) communicating treatment best practice. He was the senior author in the Farrow et al study, which first described structural MRI evidence of differences between first-episode bipolar disorder and first-episode schizophrenia and in follow-up studies that described longitudinal changes in regional grey matter and white matter volume and EEG power, in early schizophrenia. He has conducted studies exploring changes in underlying anatomical and functional networks in the brain in psychosis. He is working toward combining neuroimaging and electrophysiology to better delineate clinical groups in severe mental illness.

His clinical treatment research has focused predominantly on cognitive remediation therapy to address neurocognitive and social cognitive deficits in adolescents and adults with psychotic disorders. He has tested face-to-face and web-based treatment strategies, also combining these strategies with supported employment programs in the community. He has worked on a range of other clinical studies including developing predictors of response in major depression, the optimal use of ECT in patients with severe depression, the development of cognitive behavioural treatments of substance use in young people with a psychotic illness and the usefulness of community treatment orders.

Professor Harris is interested in psychiatric education. He has lead a group of experts in the development of a series of educational programs for healthcare professionals on anxiety and mood disorders. This work is now focusing on developing internet and text-based resources for schizophrenia.

Adjunct roles

Professor of Psychiatry, Westmead Clinical School
Consultant psychiatrist, Prevention Early Intervention and Recovery Service (PEIRS), Western Sydney Local Health District

Recent publications

Examining the clinical effectiveness of continuation and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy in schizophrenia

February 2024

A retrospective matched case–control comparison of non-fatal hanging to non-fatal self-poisoning in a sample of Australian men and women.

March 2023

Approach to schizophrenia

April 2023

Current grants

A hybrid-II implementation-effectiveness trial of a peer-supported self-management tool for young people in preparation for early intervention in psychosis service discharge (MY PREP-ED), Milton A, Glozier N, Harris A, Hancock N, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal - administered by NHMRC)/MRFF CRI 2023 Clinician Researchers: Applied Research in Health (2024)
SWiMS - Schizophrenia Weight, Metformin and Semaglutide: A double blind double dummy placebo controlled multi-centre RCT, Siskind D, Russell A, Berk M, Yung A, Harris A, Lappin J, Kisely S, Schubert K, Jayaram M, Arnautovska U, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal - administered by NHMRC)/MRFF - 2021 Rare Cancers, Rare Diseases and Unmet Need General Grant (2022)
Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trial Network (MAGNET), Berk M, Rossell S, Fitzgerald P, Turner A, Rodgers A, Mihalopoulos C, Ng C, Galletly C, Davey C, Harris A, Pantelis C, Loo C, Lubman D, Siskind D, Forbes D, Meyer D, Jacka F, Kay-Lambkin F, Malhi G, Murray G, Christensen H, Kulkarni J, Sarris J, Lagopoulos J, McGrath J, Hoy K, Mills K, Nelson M, O'Donnell M, Gunn J, Millard M, Kyrios M, Yucel M, Glozier N, Martin N, Dean O, Almeida O, Batterham P, McKetin R, Bryant R, Osborne R, Harvey S, Hood S, Touyz S, Sundram S, Apostolopoulos V, Zoungas S, Venkatesh S, Russell S, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal - administered by NHMRC)/MRFF - Million Minds Mission - 2020 Mental Health Research Grant (2021)