Rate My Professor Marlies Alvarenga

Dr. Marlies Alvarenga is a clinical psychologist and Adjunct Senior Lecturer with the School of Public Health at Monash University, as well as an Adjunct Research Fellow in Psychiatry Monash Health and a member of the Victorian Heart Institute. Holding qualifications including a Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Master of Public Health, Graduate Diploma in Educational Psychology, Bachelor of Educational Studies, and Bachelor of Science, she brings over sixteen years of experience as an academic, scientific researcher, and clinician. Alvarenga is an AHPRA-endorsed clinical supervisor and has served as past Clinic Director of Monash University’s Psychology Clinic and Director of the Monash Clinical Psychology Center. She was instrumental in founding a psychocardiology clinic within MonashHeart at Monash Medical Centre’s Cardiology Department and demonstrated exceptional organizational skills by playing a pivotal role in organizing three successful international conferences on psychocardiology in Prato, Italy, in 2008, 2010, and 2012, on behalf of The Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute and Monash University.

Alvarenga’s research focuses on psychosomatic medicine, specifically cardiac neurosciences, exploring the links between stress, mental illness, and increased risk or incidence of cardiovascular disease. Her contributions include co-editing the Handbook of Psychocardiology (Springer, 2016), a comprehensive two-volume work with 60 chapters that has been downloaded several thousand times, establishing it as a benchmark in the field. She also co-edited Psychocardiology: Exploring the Brain-Heart Interface (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2022, Volumes 1 and 2). Key publications encompass the development of the Cardiac Distress Inventory and its short form (BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 2022 and 2023), studies on unraveling cardiac distress prevalence and severity (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2022), buffering fear of COVID-19 through social connectedness (Behavioral Sciences, 2022), measurement of noradrenaline and serotonin metabolites in panic disorder and depressive illness (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2022), and anxiety and depression after cardiac events (Frontiers in Psychology, 2020). In 2005, she won the Young Scientist Award at the Eighth Congress of Biological Psychiatry in Vienna for her research into panic disorder. Her work translates directly into clinical practice, advancing psychological interventions for cardiac patients and contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being.