Rate My Professor Anthony Harris

Professor Anthony Harris AM, MBBS, PhD, FRANZCP, is Professor of Psychiatry in the Westmead Clinical School, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. He serves as Head of the Specialty of Psychiatry in the Sydney Medical School and Co-Director of the Brain Dynamics Centre at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research. Additionally, he is a consultant psychiatrist in the Prevention Early Intervention and Recovery Service of the Western Sydney Local Health District. Harris has a long-standing career focused on severe mental illness, training as a psychiatrist and engaging in the NGO sector since 1996. He chaired the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW, guiding its incorporation and merger with Mind Australia, and currently chairs the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW Research Trust Fund while serving on the board of Mind Australia as Co-Deputy Chair of One Door Mental Health. In 2024, he was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to mental health. His academic journey includes an MBBS from the University of Sydney and a PhD, complemented by fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

Harris's research specializations encompass psychophysiology, neuroimaging, and the treatment of psychotic and mood disorders, including first-episode psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. He pioneered structural MRI evidence distinguishing first-episode bipolar disorder from schizophrenia and has explored longitudinal brain changes, functional networks in psychosis, and combined neuroimaging with electrophysiology. His clinical research emphasizes cognitive remediation therapy for neurocognitive and social cognitive deficits in psychotic disorders, testing face-to-face and web-based strategies integrated with supported employment. Other studies address predictors of response in major depression, optimal ECT use, cognitive behavioral treatments for substance use in youth with psychosis, and community treatment orders. With over 270 publications cited more than 8,200 times, key works include contributions to The Sydney Textbook of Psychiatry and The Sydney Handbook of Anxiety Disorders, alongside recent papers such as 'Role of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex in emotion processing in Treatment Resistant Depression' (2025) and 'Amygdala subregional functional connectivity in Treatment-Resistant Depression' (2024). Harris has developed educational programs for healthcare professionals on anxiety and mood disorders, extending to internet and text-based resources for schizophrenia, influencing psychiatric education and practice.