Dr Renee Testa - Researcher Profile

Biography

Renee works in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences at Monash University as a Lecturer.

Renee also works as a Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist and Co-ordinator of the Neurodevelopmental Clinic at Sunshine Hospital

She is also a Post-doctoral Research Fellow with the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre.

 

 

Related Links:

• Psych: Research Themes

Keywords

child neuropsychology; learning disabilities; neurodevelopmental disorders; autism; schizophrenia

Qualifications

DOCTORATE OF PSYCHOLOGY - CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 2005

GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN PSYCHOLOGY

Institution: Victoria University

Year awarded: 1999

BACHELOR OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE

Institution: LaTrobe University

Year awarded: 1998

Publications

Book Chapters

Testa, R.R., Wood, S.J., Pantelis, C., 2009, Schizophrenia, in The Neuropsychology of Mental Illness, eds Stephen J. Wood, Nicholas B Allen and Christos Pantelis, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 378-388.

Testa, R.R., Pantelis, C., 2009, The role of executive functions in psychiatric disorders, in The Neuropsychology of Mental Illness, eds Stephen J. Wood, Nicholas B Allen and Christos Pantelis, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 117-137.

Journal Articles

Testa, R.R., Bennett, P.C., Ponsford, J.L., 2012, Factor analysis of nineteen executive function tests in a healthy adult population, Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology [P], vol 27, issue 2, Oxford University Press, United Kingdom, pp. 213-224.

Scarr, E., Sundram, S., Khademy-Deljo, A., Cowie, T.F., Gibbons, A.S., Juzva, S., Mackinnon, A.J., Wood, S.J., Testa, R.R., Pantelis, C., Dean, B., 2012, Muscarinic M1 receptor sequence: preliminary studies on its effects on cognition and expression, Schizophrenia Research [P], vol 138, issue 1, Elsevier BV, Netherlands, pp. 94-98.

Skafidas, E.S., Testa, R.R., Zantomio, D., Chana, G., Everall, I.P., Pantelis, C., 2012, Predicting the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder using gene pathway analysis, Molecular Psychiatry [P], Nature Publishing Group, United Kingdom, pp. 1-7.

Renison, B.L., Ponsford, J.L., Testa, R.R., Richardson, B.L., Brownfield, K.C., 2012, The ecological and construct validity of a newly developed measure of executive function: the virtual library task, Journal Of The International Neuropsychological Society [P], vol 18, issue 3, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, pp. 440-450.

Gogtay, N., Vyas, N., Testa, R., Wood, S., Pantelis, C., 2011, Age of onset of schizophrenia: Perspectives from structural neuroimaging studies, Schizophrenia Bulletin [P], vol 37, issue 3, Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 504-513.

Testa, R., Pantelis, C., Fontenelle, L., 2011, Hoarding behaviors in children with learning disabilities, Journal of Child Neurology [P], vol 26, issue 5, Sage Publications, Inc., United States, pp. 574-579.

Pantelis, C., Wood, S., Velakoulis, D., Testa, R., Fontenelle, L., Yucel, M., 2010, Should we redefine the concept of endotype in schizophrenia?, Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria [P], vol 32, issue 2, Associacao Brasileira de Psiquiatria, Brazil, pp. 106-108.

Pantelis, C., Wood, S.J., Proffitt, T.M., Testa, R.R., Mahony, K., Brewer, W.J., Buchanan, J.M., Velakoulis, D., McGorry, P.D., 2009, Attentional set-shifting ability in first-episode and established schizophrenia: Relationship to working memory, Schizophrenia Research [P], vol 112, issue 1-3, Elsevier BV, Netherlands, pp. 104-113.

Pasternak, J.J., McGregor, D.G., Lanier, W.L., Schroeder, D.R., Rusy, D.A., Hindman, B., Clarke, W., Torner, J., Todd, M.M., Myles, P.S., Rosenfeld, J.V., Hunt, J., Wallace, S.K., D'Urso, P., Thien, C., McMahon, J.H., Wadanamby, S., Siu, K., Malham, G., Laidlaw, J., Salemo, S., Alatakis, S., Madder, H., Cairo, S., Konstantatos, A., Smart, J., Lindholm, D., Bain, D., Machlin, H., Moloney, J., Buckland, M., Silvers, A., Downey, G., Molnar, A., Langley, M., McIlroy, D.R., Daly, D., Bennett, P., Forlano, L.M., Testa, R., Burnett, W., Johnson, F., Angliss, M., Fletcher, H., 2009, Effect of nitrous oxide use on long-term neurologic and neuropsychological outcome in patients who received temporary proximal artery occlusion during cerebral aneurysm clipping surgery, Anesthesiology [P], vol 110, issue 3, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, USA, pp. 563-573.

Cocchi, L., Walterfang, M., Testa, R., Wood, S., Seal, M., Suckling, J., Takahashi, T., Proffitt, T., Brewer, W., Adamson, C., Soulsby, B., Velakoulis, D., McGorry, P., Pantelis, C., 2009, Grey and white matter abnormalities are associated with impaired spatial working memory ability in first-episode schizophrenia, Schizophrenia Research [P], vol 115, issue 2-3, Elsevier BV, Netherlands, pp. 163-172.

Pantelis, C., Yucel, M., Bora, I.E., Fornito, A., Testa, R.R., Brewer, W.J., Velakoulis, D., Wood, S.J., 2009, Neurobiological markers of illness onset in psychosis and schizophrenia: The search for a moving target, Neuropsychology Review [P], vol 19, issue 3, Springer New York LLC, USA, pp. 385-398.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

A Model of Inhibitory Control in Emotion Regulation and Dysregulation.

Supervisors:

Testa, R (Joint-co).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

An investigation into the cognitive skills underpinning single word decoding in children with reading disorders..

Supervisors:

Testa, R (Main), Ponsford, J (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

An investigation of cognition and behaviour during adulthood in Down Syndrome..

Supervisors:

Gray, K (Main), Cornish, K (Associate), Testa, R (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

An investigation of pervasive, social and interpersonal difficulties in childhood: Cognitive, motor and language functioning..

Supervisors:

Testa, R (Joint-co), Tonge, B (Joint).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

High functioning autism spectrum disorders: A review.

Supervisors:

Testa, R (Main).

Completed Supervision

Student:

Embuldeniya, U.

Program of Study:

Symptomatic focal epilepsy in childhood: cognitive effects of seizure onset during a critical developmental period. (PHD) 2010.

Supervisors:

Gonzalez, L (Main), Testa, R (Associate), Wood, A (Associate).

Student:

Oguzkaya, E.

Program of Study:

Memory functioning in children and adolescents with frontal and temporal lobe epilepsy. (PHD) 2011.

Supervisors:

Gonzalez, L (Main), Testa, R (Associate), Wood, A (Associate).

Student:

Renison, B.

Program of Study:

Construct and ecological validity of a new virtual reality measure of executive function; the Virtual Library Task. (PHD) 2010.

Supervisors:

Ponsford, J (Main), Testa, R (Associate).