Professor Skye McDonald

I am a Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at UNSW Australia.  I have a BSc (Hons) from Monash University, a Masters degree in Clinical Neuropsychology from the University of Melbourne and a PhD from Macquarie University. I worked as a clinician with people with acquired brain disorders for 10 years before taking up my current academic post at UNSW. 

I lead a national Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery “Moving Ahead” to address psychosocial rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury. I have published over 170 peer reviewed publications on brain injury as well as a number of remediation programs addressing impairment in social cognition. My research interests are about understanding how the brain processes emotions and social cognition (social cognition refers to the ability to read social signals in order to understand the meaning behind other people’s behaviour). I am particularly interested in understanding how this can break down following brain injury. My research aims to find new ways to assess and treat such disorders. More details about my research can be seen by visiting my home page.  I am an active member of the Australasian Society of the Study of Brain Impairment which promotes education and research into brain damage.  I am  also a core member of PsycBITE, a database that provides instant access to titles and abstracts of all studies ever published in English that attest to the efficacy of treatments for disorders arising from brain damage.