Professor Thomas Whitford

Professor Thomas Whitford
Professor
B.Psych (Hons I), University of Sydney, 2000
Ph.D., University of Sydney, 2007
Post-doc, Harvard University, 2008-2010
Post-doc, University of Melbourne, 2010-2011
Contact details
Phone: (02) 9385 3936
Email: Professor Thomas Whitford
Fax: (02) 9385 3641
Office: Mathews, Room 913
Research Summary
Current Research Projects:
Developing an electrophysiological marker of inner speech
Understanding self-suppression
Investigating self-suppression and inner speech in people with schizophrenia
Teaching
PSYC1011 – Psychology 1B
PSYC2101 – Assessment, Personality and Psychopathology
Publications
Selected Publications
Whitford TJ. (2019). Speaking-induced suppression of the auditory cortex and its relevance to schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 4, 791-804. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.05.011
Nelson B, Lavoie S, Gaweda L, Li E, Sass LA, Koren D, McGorry PD, Jack BN, Parnas J, Polari A, Allott K, Hartmann JA, Whitford TJ. (2019). Testing a neurophenomenological model of basic self disturbance in early psychosis. World Psychiatry, 18, 104-105. doi: 10.1002/wps.20597
Whitford TJ, Jack BN, Pearson D, Griffiths O, Luque D, Harris AWF, Spencer KM, Le Pelley ME. (2017). Neurophysiological evidence of efference copies to inner speech. eLife, 6, e28197. https://elifesciences.org/articles/28197
Whitford TJ, Oestreich LKL, Ford JM, Roach BJ, Loewy RL, Stuart BK, Mathalon DH. (2018). Deficits in cortical suppression during vocalization are associated with structural abnormalities in the arcuate fasciculus in early Illness schizophrenia and clinical high risk for psychosis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 44, 1312-1322. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbx144
Whitford TJ, Ford JM, Mathalon DH, Kubicki M, Shenton ME. (2012). Schizophrenia, myelination, and delayed corollary discharges: A hypothesis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 38(3), 486-494. https://doi:10.1093/schbul/sbq105
Whitford TJ, Mathalon DH, Shenton ME, Roach BJ, Bammer R, Adcock RA, Bouix S, Kubicki M, De Siebenthal J, Rausch AC, Schneiderman JS, Ford JM. (2011). Electrophysiological and diffusion tensor imaging evidence of delayed corollary discharges in patients with schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 41(5), 959-969. https://doi:10.1017/S0033291710001376
Whitford TJ, Kubicki M, Schneiderman JS, O'Donnell LJ, King R, Alvarado JL, Khan U, Markant D, Nestor PG, Niznikiewicz M, McCarley RW, Westin C-F, Shenton ME. (2010). Corpus callosum abnormalities and their association with psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 68(1), 70-77. https://doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.03.025
For a full listing of all of my publications, please view my UNSW Research Gateway profile.
Awards, Fellowships & Grants
Research Funding
2020-2022: Whitford TJ, Le Pelley M. Determining the physical and temporal properties of a person's inner speech. Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project, DP200103288, AU$330,782.
2017-2019: Whitford TJ, Spencer K, Harris A. Deciphering the electrophysiological signature of inner speech. Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project, DP170103094, AU$304,000.
2015-2018: Whitford TJ. Distinguishing self from world: understanding the neural basis of schizophrenia. NHMRC Career Development Fellowship, APP1090507, AU$411,768
2014-2017: Whitford TJ, Le Pelley M, Luque, D. Understanding prediction errors: interrogating the brain's lingua franca. Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project, DP140104394. AU$346,000
2014-2016: Le Pelley M, Morris R, Green M, Whitford TJ, Killcross S. Prediction error processing in schizophrenia. National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) Project Grant, APP1069487. AU$243,447
2014-2016: Amminger GP, Pantelis C, Whitford TJ, Whittle S, Fornito A, Hermens D. Erythrocyte Membrane Fatty Acid Concentrations and Myelin Integrity in Young People at Ultra-High Risk of Psychosis. National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) Project Grant, APP1067040, AU$390,879
2013-2016: Felmingham K, Malhi G, Whitford TJ, Quirk G, Das P. Neural and Genetic Predictors of Response to Exposure Therapy In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) Project Grant. , APP1050848. AU$377,961
Awards
2017 + 2016: Postgraduate Research Supervisor Award. UNSW Arc Postgraduate Council
2015: Australian Psychological Society (APS) Outstanding Lecturer of the Year Award (Sydney Branch)
2014: Young Tall Poppy Science Award (New South Wales). Australian Institute of Policy and Science.
2013: UNSW Faculty of Science Staff Excellence Award for Teaching
2011: Barbara and John Streicker Young Investigator Award, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
Current Research Students
Mr Sol Libesman (PhD candidate; jointly supervised with Dr Damien Mannion)
Mr Nathan Han (PhD candidate)
Mr Anthony Harrison (PhD candidate)
Ms Gabriella Rudman (PhD candidate)
Mr Kin Hei Lawrence Chung (PhD candidate)
Mr Wadim Vodovozov (PhD candidate)
Lab Alumni
Dr Bradley Jack (Postdoctoral Fellow; accepted a Lectureship at ANU in 2019)
Dr Ruth Elijah (PhD awarded 2018)
Dr Nathan Mifsud (PhD awarded 2017)
Dr Lena Oestreich (PhD awarded 2016)