Developing the next generation of mental health research leaders is an important part of the Collaborative Centre's approach to translational research.
Through a range of scholarships, fellowships and research partnerships, the Collaborative Centre supports emerging researchers to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing Victoria's mental health and wellbeing system. By creating opportunities for researchers to connect with policymakers, practitioners and people with Lived and Living Experience, these partnerships help strengthen the translation of research into real-world settings and reform efforts.
One of those emerging researchers is Lochie Timms-McLean, a PhD candidate at Federation University Australia and participant in the Translational PhD Fellowship Program, a partnership between Safer Care Victoria, the Collaborative Centre and Western Alliance.
Lochie's research explores the relationship between neurodivergence and gambling harm.
Driven by a desire to make a difference in a community he cares deeply about, his work focuses on a significant gap in the evidence and practice landscape: how gambling harm interventions can better support neurodivergent people, particularly ADHDers and autistic adults. While these communities can experience increased vulnerability to gambling-related harm, they are not always recognised as a priority population within existing approaches. His research aims to address this gap by developing recommendations for gambling harm interventions that are more accessible, inclusive and neurodiversity-affirming.
For Lochie, the work is both professional and personal.
Like many researchers, his interest in mental health and wellbeing stems from lived experience and a desire to contribute to something meaningful. He describes taking many different paths to arrive at a PhD, but always knowing he wanted his work to make a difference for people and communities.
Central to his research is a commitment to Lived and Living Experience, a principle that sits at the heart of Victoria's mental health and wellbeing reform agenda.
As someone with ADHD, Lochie understands firsthand the importance of ensuring people with direct experience are involved in shaping the systems and services designed to support them. His research will bring together people with lived experience alongside subject matter experts to identify the most appropriate and effective approaches for addressing gambling harm among neurodivergent populations.
For Lochie, meaningful impact goes beyond academic publications or policy recommendations.
"Meaningful impact is a hard thing to quantify," he says.
While he hopes his work will contribute to tangible improvements in the mental healthcare system, he already sees value in the conversations his research is creating. Hearing from people with lived experience who feel the work reflects their realities has reinforced the importance of the project and the need for research that responds to community priorities.
"It is more about the feeling of being seen, which is not so common for us neurodivergent people."
As his work has progressed, the research journey has also led to an unexpected personal discovery.
While studying ADHD and its impacts, Lochie began recognising aspects of his own experience in the literature. This prompted him to seek a formal assessment, ultimately leading to an ADHD diagnosis.
"Who knows if I would have gotten diagnosed if I hadn't done this research?" he reflects.
The experience strengthened his connection to the work and reinforced his belief that those most affected by an issue should play a meaningful role in shaping the solutions.
Looking more broadly at the reform landscape, Lochie believes there is still more work to do to ensure people with Lived and Living Experience are consistently involved in decision-making. He hopes to see greater consultation with communities across the sector and believes the involvement of neurodivergent people in decisions that affect them is essential to designing healthcare approaches that genuinely work.
He also sees opportunities for stronger collaboration across sectors and government portfolios. Issues such as gambling harm often sit across multiple systems, creating challenges for coordinated responses and highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to reform.
Beyond his current research, Lochie is passionate about the mental health and wellbeing of queer communities, another area informed by lived experience and one he hopes to contribute to in the future.
Lochie's research is one example of the diverse work being undertaken through research partnerships that connect emerging researchers with Victoria's mental health and wellbeing reform efforts.
By supporting opportunities for researchers to engage with communities, services and system leaders, programs such as the Translational PhD Fellowship Program help strengthen the connection between evidence, practice and policy. For researchers like Lochie, these connections create opportunities for research to contribute beyond academia and inform real-world change.
For Lochie, that impact ultimately comes back to a simple idea: helping people feel seen, heard and included in the conversations that shape their lives.