Professor Gordon Parker AO has received international recognition for his pioneering work in psychopathology, in particular research models to differentiate principal mood disorders (melancholia and bipolar II disorder) with diagnostic precision so that their causes and optimal treatments can be pursued. He has also carried out seminal work on parenting style and other psychosocial factors affecting adult psychopathology.

Parker established the Black Dog Institute, thereby enabling the translation of his group’s research, and transforming the landscape of depression awareness and treatment access in the country. He is a leading educator, mentor, spokesperson and polemicist of Psychiatry in the country.