Dr Gavan McNally of the School of Psychology was awarded more than $1.25 million dollars in the 2008 ARC and NHMRC funding rounds. The funded grants include a prestigious ARC QEII Research Fellowship (2008 – 2012) and associated Discovery Project grant to study how the brain predicts danger. The QEII Fellowship, one of only 3 awarded to UNSW, will enable Dr. McNally to devote his time to research and research supervision.

Also funded was a collaborative ARC Discovery Project (2008 - 2010) with Professor Rick Richardson studying the brain mechanisms that inhibit fear. There is currently an intense international effort to identify the brain mechanisms which inhibit fear and anxiety because dysfunction of these inhibitory mechanisms cause clinical anxiety disorders. The project couples contemporary psychological and neuroscience approaches to study how the brain inhibits fear and asks how this changes across the lifespan.

Finally, Dr McNally was awarded an NHMRC Project grant (2008 – 2010) to study the brain mechanisms for relapse to drug-taking. Drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing conditioning. Approximately 75% of individuals seeking treatment for drug use, regardless of the drug they use, will relapse to drug use within 12 months of treatment. Contexts and places play an important role in influencing this relapse - there are “Achilles’ heel” situations where relapse is more likely than at other times. This project identifies the brain circuits, as well as key neurotransmitters and neuropeptides within those circuits, that enable contexts to trigger relapse. The total funds awarded to Dr McNally make him the most successful researcher from the Faculty of Science in the funding round.

Congratulations to both Gavan & Rick!