MAGNET Celebrates Outstanding Research Excellence with 2025 Award Winners
The Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trials Network (MAGNET) announced the recipients of its 2025 Research Excellence Awards at the Scientific Meeting in Adelaide on the 18th of November 2025. The MAGNET Awards recognise outstanding leadership, innovation and real-world impact across Australia’s mental health clinical trials sector.
Following an exceptionally strong pool of applications, MAGNET’s Scientific Advisory and Steering Committees awarded a joint Trial of the Year in 2025, highlighting the calibre of Australian research and Australia’s growing leadership in delivering mental health clinical trials with international impact.
MAGNET Trial of the Year — The TINA Trial
Lead Investigator: Professor Rebecca McKetin, UNSW
The TINA Trial has been awarded MAGNET’s Trial of the Year for its landmark contribution to the treatment of methamphetamine use disorder, a condition for which no approved pharmacotherapies currently exist.
This Phase 3, multi-site, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised trial evaluated the antidepressant medication mirtazapine (30 mg daily) over 12 weeks in adults with methamphetamine use disorder. In total, 339 participants were randomised to receive either the mirtazapine or the placebo.
The results will provide definitive data on whether mirtazapine can be used safely in routine clinical practice to help people reduce their methamphetamine use.
It is expected that the results of the Tina Trial will be released on the 1st of April 2026, and will be available on the trial’s website: The Tina Trial | National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre – UNSW Sydney
MAGNET Trial of the Year — The COaST Trial
Lead Investigator: Professor Dan Siskind, University of Queensland
The COaST Trial was recognised for delivering a breakthrough in addressing physical health inequities experienced by people living with schizophrenia.
People with schizophrenia have a significantly reduced life expectancy, largely driven by cardiovascular disease and medication-related weight gain. Clozapine, while highly effective for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, is associated with substantial metabolic risk.
The COaST Trial was the first study globally to evaluate semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) in people taking clozapine. After 36 weeks, participants receiving semaglutide achieved an average 14 % reduction in body weight, while the placebo group experienced no significant weight loss. Two-thirds of participants achieved more than 10% weight loss.
The treatment was shown to be safe, well tolerated, and did not negatively impact psychiatric symptoms or clozapine blood levels.
These findings represent a potential paradigm shift in improving both physical and mental health outcomes for people living with schizophrenia.
Publication: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(25)00129-4/abstract
MAGNET Lived Experience Trial of the Year – Supporting Parents as Mental Health Gatekeepers
Lead Investigator: Professor Alison Calear, ANU
The MAGNET Lived Experience Trial of the Year Award recognises Professor Alison Calear’s innovative research focused on strengthening early intervention pathways for children and adolescents experiencing mental health difficulties.
Despite increasing rates of youth mental illness and suicide risk, help-seeking remains low. Parents and caregivers are often the primary gatekeepers to care, yet many report limited confidence and knowledge in recognising symptoms and accessing support.
This randomised controlled trial evaluated a new online mental health and suicide prevention resource for parents and caregivers of children aged 5 to 17 years. The program aims to improve parents’ confidence to identify mental health concerns, respond effectively to suicide risk, and navigate professional support services. The intervention provides practical, evidence-based guidance across three core areas: recognising mental health problems, responding to suicide risk, and supporting access to professional care. Outcomes being measured include self-efficacy, mental health literacy, stigma, help-seeking attitudes and perceived barriers to care.
By placing families and lived experience at the centre of early intervention strategies, this research has the potential to significantly improve mental health outcomes for young people across Australia.
Publication: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/7/e082963.info
MAGNET Early Career Researcher Award — Dr Amelia McGuinness
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Deakin University Food & Mood Centre
MAGNET is proud to recognise Dr Amelia McGuinness with the 2025 Early Career Researcher Award for her outstanding contributions to microbiome science and mental health research.
In just two years since completing her PhD, Dr McGuinness has emerged as a national leader in this rapidly evolving field, securing four competitive NHMRC and MRFF grants as Chief Investigator A and leading multiple innovative clinical trials.
Her research focuses on developing next-generation treatments that extend beyond traditional mental health interventions, including faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and targeted dietary strategies for depression, as well as neuropsychiatric conditions such as Long COVID and chronic pelvic pain.
Dr McGuinness played a key role in the world’s first clinical trial of FMT for depression and integrates biological, psychological and lifestyle data to better understand microbiome–gut–brain interactions.
A strong advocate for consumer involvement, she embeds lived experience expertise throughout study design and implementation, ensuring research remains grounded in real-world needs.
Her work is helping to build the evidence base for safe, effective and accessible microbiome-based therapies, with the potential to transform personalised mental health care and improve outcomes for people living with complex mental and brain health conditions.
Publications: Amelia McGuinness – Google Scholar
Driving Impact Through National Collaboration
MAGNET congratulates all award recipients and their teams and acknowledges the vital role of national collaboration, lived experience research partnerships and clinical trial infrastructure in delivering real world impact.