Event Details:
Date: Friday, 10 October 2025
Time: 7:00am – 9:00am
Location: The University Club of Western Australia – Banquet Hall
Innovation at the Edge: New Approaches to Treating Depression
Join us for breakfast on World Mental Health Day where Perron Institute and the WA Suicide Prevention Resilience Research Centre (SPARRC) will bring together leading experts to debate some of the most exciting, disruptive, and controversial new treatments for depression.
The panel will include specialists in psychedelics, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, pharmacogenomics and psychotherapy to challenge assumptions, spotlight breakthroughs, confront the ethical and clinical dilemmas raised by innovation at the edge of mental health care and explore how these emerging therapies could transform the future of depression.
The Perron Institute is a leader in delivering research outcomes to the international community. The team collaborate and conducts critical neuroscience research, expertly translates knowledge and delivers specialist clinical services to benefit the community.
The WA Suicide Prevention Resilience Research Centre brings together a diverse range of researchers and interest groups with a shared goal of improving mental health within WA, including world-renowned academics, psychologists, psychiatrists, allied health professionals and educators.
Panel
Professor Jenny Rodger – Moderator
Jennifer is the Head of Brain Plasticity Research and co-leads the Neuropharmacogenetics project at the Perron Institute and the MSWA Senior Research Fellow in Brain Plasticity. Jennifer also leads Perron Institute’s Youth Mental Health team.
Professor Bronwyn Myers-Franchi
Bronwyn is a Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Curtin enable Institute. Most recently Deputy Director of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council, Bronwyn has worked extensively in enhancing services for people with mental or physical health disorders.
Dr. Svetlana Baltic
Svetlana is a molecular biologist with over 25 years experience in clinical research and pharmacogenetics. She is a co-founder of WA startup biotechnology company Gene S Pty Ltd, and a Senior Lecturer at UWA.
Associate Professor Chris Lee
Christopher works as a clinical psychologist in private practice and at the University of Western Australia. He is a certified trainer in EMDR and Schema Therapy and conducts workshops in Australia and internationally on personality disorders and trauma treatments. His research focuses on personality disorders, depression, and PTSD, including leading three international RCTs on complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder.
Dr Kyle Hoath
Kyle is President of the AMA (WA) and a RANZCP Branch (WA) Committee Member. He is the Director of Neurostimulation at HealtheCare Marian Centre, and a member of the Section of ECT and Neurostimulation of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. Kyle is a Certified TMS Practitioner.
Dr Christopher Watson
Christopher has worked in the field of psychiatry nearing a decade in a variety of clinical settings throughout WA, both public and private. Most recently, Dr. Watson has worked in the field of psychedelic-assisted therapy, as a senior medical practitioner in clinical trials and as a psychedelic assisted psychotherapist.