Dr. Vanessa Cropley completed her Honours and PhD at the Brain Sciences Institute, Swinburne University. Her PhD thesis investigated the striatal and extrastriatal dopamine system and its association with frontostriatal cognitive function in healthy subjects and individuals with Parkinson’s disease using the molecular imaging technique, positron emission tomography (PET).
She conducted these studies at the Molecular Imaging Branch within the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, NIH). In 2011, Dr Cropley commenced a National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Postdoctoral Training Fellowship to undertake brain imaging studies in psychosis at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre (MNC). She is currently a Research Fellow within MNC. Her research focuses on investigating neuroimaging and neurobiological markers associated with clinical, functional and cognitive outcomes in schizophrenia and psychosis using a multi-modal and longitudinal approach.
Dr. Cropley participates in several competitively funded national research projects and leads a current NHMRC Project Grant and an international NARSAD Young Investigator grant. Her main research interests include: 1) examination of neuroinflammation in psychosis using PET imaging and other brain and peripheral measures of inflammatory processes, 2) examination of brain structural and functional trajectories of illness within a developmental and aging framework, 3) investigating the influence of dopamine on frontostriatal circuitry, and 4) examining brain-behaviour relationships associated with specific illness dimensions, illness stages or discrete subgroups within the schizophrenia syndrome. Dr. Cropley supervises a number of PhD and honours students and international visitors. She has authored over 34 journal publications in leading international journals and has acquired over $2.5 million in competitive research funding over her career. Dr. Cropley is a member of the MNC Executive, is the Deputy Head of the MNC Psychosis and Developmental Neuropsychiatry research stream and is a current member of the Department of Psychiatry research subcommittee.
Find out more about Vanessa Cropley's experience
Vanessa Cropley's highlights
FEATURED Journal article
The Impact of Childhood Adversity on Cognitive Development in Schizophrenia.
Read moreVanessa Cropley's selected work
Projects
Displaying the 12 most recent projects by Vanessa Cropley.
Project Types
8
Research Grant
2
Internal Research Grant
2
Research Contracts
Scholarly Works
Displaying the 66 most recent scholarly works by Vanessa Cropley.
Keyword Analysis
Credentials
Positions
Mnc Senior Research Fellow
Psychiatry
Education
Bachelor of Science (Honours)
Swinburne University of Technology
Bachelor of Science (Pschology)
Swinburne University of Technology
Doctor of Philosophy
Swinburne University of Technology