Rate My Professor Heather Francis

Associate Professor Heather Francis is an Associate Professor in Clinical Neuropsychology in the School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences at Macquarie University. She concurrently holds the position of Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist in the Neurology Department at Royal North Shore Hospital. Francis earned her combined PhD and Master of Clinical Neuropsychology from Macquarie University in 2013, with a doctoral thesis titled 'A high fat and refined sugar diet affects the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex: implications for memory, inhibition and sensitivity to interoceptive signals.' She previously obtained a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) from the same university in 2008. Her career includes roles as Clinical Neuropsychologist in the Neurology Department at Liverpool Hospital, postdoctoral researcher at the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University, and Lecturer in Clinical Neuropsychology at Macquarie University prior to her current appointment.

Heather Francis's research centers on nutritional neuroscience, exploring the adverse effects of Western-style diets—high in saturated fat, refined sugar, and processed foods—on cognition and mood, alongside the therapeutic benefits of Mediterranean-style diets for improving symptoms of depression. She also investigates the assessment and remediation of cognitive and social functions in neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis and brain injury. Ongoing projects examine inflammation in cognitive fatigue among multiple sclerosis patients, the efficacy of group memory training programs for this population, and the impact of group therapy on cognition and mood in binge eating disorder. Key publications include the book 'Diet Impacts on Brain and Mind' co-authored with Professor Richard J. Stevenson (Cambridge University Press, 2020), which addresses dietary influences on brain function; 'Hippocampal-dependent appetitive control is impaired by chronic high-fat feeding in rats' (Royal Society Open Science, 2020); 'The efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy for depression and anxiety in people with multiple sclerosis' (Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, 2024); 'Psychosocial factors associated with perceived cognitive function in people with prostate cancer' (2025); and 'Outcomes of soccer-related concussion: a systematic review' (2026). In clinical practice, she specializes in diagnosing and managing neurological and neurosurgical conditions, emphasizing social and occupational functioning in stroke and multiple sclerosis, and providing evidence-based cognitive and lifestyle interventions to enhance brain health and reduce cognitive decline risks. In 2013, she received Macquarie University's Excellence in Higher Degree Research award in Social Sciences, Business and Humanities.