Congratulations to Dr Leo Chen on his PhD completion

Congratulations to Dr Leonard Chen on his PhD completion, on 16 March 2022. Leo was supervised by Professor Paul Fitzgerald and Professor Kate Hoy in CCS's Department of Psychiatry. His thesis is titled, "Improving Efficacy and Efficiency of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) Therapy in Major Depression and Comorbid Anxiety."

Leo's thesis examined repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation’s (rTMS) parameters and scheduling to optimise its efficacy and efficiency in treating depression. Depression is a common mental illness that often presents with anxiety symptoms, both of which can be difficult to treat.

rTMS is an evidence-based and non-invasive therapy for so-called treatment-resistant depression. This research contributed to the appreciation of rTMS’s efficacy in treating anxiety symptoms comorbid in depression. To improve rTMS’s antidepressant efficacy and efficiency, a large-scale multi-site clinical trial was conducted, which contributed to the evidence base supporting the accelerated application of a novel, time-efficient form of rTMS called theta-burst stimulation.

Leo is a consultant psychiatrist and lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry, Central Clinical School, Monash University. He is Director of Psychiatry Training at Alfred Health and Head of the Psychopharmacology Research Team at the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre.