Research Focus
The Psychedelic Medicine and Supportive Care Group is dedicated to advancing psychedelic medicine and developing supportive care interventions for cancer and mental health.
Our research aims to maximise quality of life by:
- Using population and person-centred approaches to assess supportive care needs.
- Identifying the most promising interventions and models of care.
- Embracing innovation and using cost-effectiveness and implementation trial designs.
- Championing equity and inclusivity for culturally safe, responsive and accessible care.
- Fostering interdisciplinary partnerships with clinicians, consumers and healthcare providers to facilitate translation.
Our current projects target cancer-related supportive care, adjustment disorders, prolonged grief and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in disaster-affected communities.
Gallery
Research Team
Hanna Beebe
Justine Huynh
Maryrose Malt
Natalie Roset
Funding
Associate Professor Vanessa Beesley has:
- Been awarded $800,000 of MRFF funding as the lead investigator of a major national telehealth trial;
- Held multiple Cancer Australia contracts (totalling $150,000) as the lead investigator to provide recommendations to government about how to improve cancer care;
- Been awarded additional seed funding ($370,000) as the lead investigator of three pilot intervention trials and 1 methods study;
- Been a chief investigator of 11 other studies funded through major national grants or specialist agencies (3xMRFF, 2 x NHMRC, 2 x ARC, 2 x Cancer Australia, 1 x Cancer Council Queensland and 1 x Christie NHS Foundation Trust) totalling awards of $10,500,000;
- Been awarded $286,000 for an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship;
- Been awarded $84,000 for three scholarships (honours, Ph.D and write-up).
Further Information
Internal Collaborations
External Collaborations
- Professor Jane Turner (UQ), Prof Patsy Yates (QUT), Prof Ray Chan (Flinders Uni), A/Prof Melissa Eastgate & Prof David Wyld (RBWH) and Michelle Stewart & Sofia Casbolt (PanKind) on the PRoCESS (Pancreatic cancer Relatives Counselling and Education Support Service) trial
- Associate Professor Stephen Parker (RBWH), Associate Professor Fiona Maccallum (UQ), Dr Margaret Ross (St. Vincent’s Hospital), Renee Harvey (Enosis Therapeutics), Professor Jerome Sarris and Associate Professor Daniel Perkins (Psychae Institute), Professor Susan Rossell (Swinburne Uni) on the PARTING (Psilocybin-Assisted suppoRtive psychoTherapy IN the treatment of prolonged Grief) trial
- Professor James Bennett-Levy, Dr Janet Schloss and Dr. Ruben Laukkonen (SCU), Professor Kirsten Morley, Professor Andrew Baillie and Associate Professor Veronica Matthews (USYD), Professor Paul Haber (RPAH), Professor Jane Shakespeare-Finch (QUT), Associate Professor Caroline Atkinson (We Al-li), Professor Susan Michie (UCL)
- Prof Meinir Krishnasamy, Associate Professor Karla Gough, Prof Michael Michael, Associate Professor Lara Lipton, Dr Lisa Guccione, Dr Erin Laing (Peter Mac), Emeritus Professor Geoffrey Mitchell (UQ), Dr De Abreu Lourenco (UTS), Dr Robert Blum (Bendigo Health), Associate Professor Craig Underhill (Albury-Wodonga Cancer Centre), Associate Professor Haryana Dhillon (USYD), Dr Jacqueline Richmond (Burnet Institute) and Michelle Stewart (PanKind) on the PANConnect (intervention for optimal pain and symptom management for Australians affected by pancreatic cancer) trial
- Professor Sandra Hayes (GU), Professor Michael Friedlander (UNSW and Prince of Wales Hospital), Professor Andreas Obermair (RBWH), Professor Monika Janda and Professor Elizabeth Eakin (UQ), Dr Linda Mileshkin (Peter Mac), Associate Professor Alison Brand (USYD and Westmead Hospital) and Dr Alison Davis (ANU and Canberra Hospital) on the ECHO (Exercise during CHemotherapy for Ovarian cancer) trials
- Belinda Goodwin and Lizzy Johnston (CCQ), Jason Pole and Harry Gasper (UQ), Danica Cossio (CAQ) and Aaron Hansen (ICON) on the UNIQUE (UNderstanding the experiences and Investigating the needs of people affected by cancer in QUEensland) study
- Professor Anna deFazio (USYD and Westmead Hospital), Professor Andreas Obermair (RBWH), Associate Professor Peter Grant (Mercy Hospital for Women), Professor Michael Friedlander (UNSW and Prince of Wales Hospital) on the OPAL (Ovarian cancer Prognosis And Lifestyle) study
- Professor David Wyld and Associate Glen Kennedy and Dr Teresa Brown (RBWH), Professor Patsy Yates (QUT), Dr Natalie Bradford (QUT), Associate Professor Natasha Woodward (Mater and UQ), Dr Rebecca Nund (UQ), Dr Rick Walker (CHQ and Metro South Health) as executive members of QCCS (Queensland Collaborative for Cancer Survivorship)