James Kesby
Dr | Affiliate Researcher
CAREER HISTORY
Dr. James Kesby’s research has focused on the dopamine system and its role in addiction, depression, cognition and psychosis. He received his PhD at UQ in 2010 working on how developmental risk factors for schizophrenia alter brain neurochemistry. He then moved to the USA to work with Professor Athina Markou at the University of California San Diego. His work focused on the cognitive outcomes of combined methamphetamine dependence and HIV disease in mice and humans. In 2016, he returned to Australia (with Professor Darryl Eyles at the Queensland Brain Institute) with an Advance Queensland Fellowship in collaboration with Professor James Scott. This work combines human and mouse studies in order to establish a translational platform looking at better ways to model psychosis and cognition in animal models.
CURRENT APPOINTMENT
- Affiliate Researcher, QIMR.
- UQ Amplify Researcher, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland.
PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS
2016-2019: Advance Queensland Research Fellow, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Qld, Australia.
2011-2015: Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Psychiatry, The University of California San Diego, CA, USA.
2010-2011: Research Associate, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Qld, Australia.
ORCID NUMBER
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5814-8062
RESEARCHER ID
CURRENT AREA OF RESEARCH
Dr Kesby’s research focusses on the development of psychosis and cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. He leads a translational research programme featuring parallel studies in rodent models and people with psychosis, focused on the relationship between decision-making deficits and psychosis neurobiology. His cross-disciplinary approach includes detailed behavioural assessments of decision-making alongside computational modelling, and circuit-specific manipulations in rodent models. Using tests of goal-directed action and serial reversal learning in both humans and rodents, his work suggests a more direct link between cognition and psychosis than previously hypothesised. This provides a potential avenue for identifying treatment approaches that alleviate a greater range of symptoms than those currently available.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
2020: Senior author for an invited review describing the relationship between subcortical dopamine systems and their contribution to decision-making deficits in schizophrenia.
2018: Developed chronic and binge methamphetamine regimens in mice, demonstrating differing reward and neurochemical profiles based on specific use patterns in humans.
2015: Lead the first human/mouse comparison of methamphetamine and HIV on cognition, showing HIV-associated proteins impair learning and methamphetamine increases susceptibility to cognitive deficits.
2006: Lead the formative study demonstrating that early Vitamin D deficiency in a rodent model leads to a range of behavioural changes associated with psychotic disorders.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
2019-Current: Committee member for Brisbane Diamantina Health Partners- Brain & Mental Health Theme Leadership Committee.
2018-Current: Australasian Neuroscience Society
2017-Current: IEPA Early Intervention in Mental Health Inc.
2016-Current: Executive Committee member for Biological Psychiatry Australia
2013-Current: Society for Neuroscience
2014-2015: International Behavioral Neuroscience Society
AWARDS RECOGNITION
2019
- Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Maltz Prize for Innovative Schizophrenia Research (USD$20,000)
- Australian Institute of Policy and Science Queensland Tall Poppy Science Award.
2017
- Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Trainee Professional Development Award (USD$2,500).
2014
- University of California San Diego Postdoctoral Association (PDA) Symposium Poster Award, September 2014, San Diego, USA (USD$200).
2013
- University of California San Diego Postdoctoral Association (PDA) Travel Award to attend American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) (USD$700).
2009
- Australian Neuroscience Society (ANS) Student Travel Award ($125).
2008
- European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress Poster Award, September 2008, Barcelona, Spain ($900).
- Biological and Chemical Sciences (BACS) Postgraduate Conference Travel Award to attend ECNP ($1,850).
2006
- The University of Western Australia School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences ASC Travel Award ($500).
- School of Biomedical Sciences Publication Competition – Winner round 3 ($1,000).
- Recipient of the ARAFMI Sunshine Coast Doctoral Scholarship ($100,000).
2004
- Douglas H. K. Lee Honours Prize; top mark/percentage within the School of Physiology and Pharmacology ($250).
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
2010: PhD in Neuroscience, The University of Queensland, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Qld, Australia.
2004: Honours in Physiology and Pharmacology (1A), The University of Queensland, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Qld, Australia.
2003: Bachelor of Science (Double Major: Anatomy and Physiology), The University of Queensland, Faculty of Biological and Chemical Science, Qld, Australia.