Dr Cathy Franklin
Researcher biography
Dr Cathy Franklin completed her medical and then psychiatric training in Queensland in 2004, followed by a Certificate of Advanced Training in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry in 2006 and a Research Masters degree in the same area in 2008. Cathy worked in the United Kingdom from 2004-2005, and it was there that she gained clinical experience in Intellectual Disability Psychiatry, working as the Consultant Psychiatrist for a Community Learning Disability Team. After returning to Australia, Cathy began a part-time position with QCIDD in 2006 that included clinical work, supervising a Psychiatry Registrar and teaching. She has presented at several different conferences and meetings including several times at the Bi-National RANZCP Congress. She is a committee member of the RANZCP Section of Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability and organises meetings in Queensland. In 2015 Cathy continues this work and has increased her hours at QCIDD to include some research time. She has been appointed as an SMO with Mater Health Services in June 2015 and also as a Senior Research Fellow with Mater Research Institute - UQ in July 2015.
Cathy sees adult patients with intellectual or developmental disability at the QCIDD clinic at the Mater Health Services Young Adult Health Centre Brisbane.
Cathy is currently co-investigator on the research project “Brain network connectivity in ASD subjects” (Principal Investigator: Professor Linda Richards, Queensland Brain Institute). This is a pilot trial (n=30) comparing brain connectivity (using MRI) and neuropsychological and psychiatric correlates in people with ASD compared to the general population. Cathy is also associated with a current research project "Attitudes of psychiatrists to intellectual disability and the concept of chemical restraint" (Principal Investigator Dr Niki Edwards, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health Queensland University of Technology).
Cathy has a firm commitment to improving mental health and quality of life for adults with intellectual disability through her research and clinical practice.