Dr Katrina Green is a medical science lecturer in the School of Medicine, University of Wollongong and a scientist at the Centre for Translational Neuroscience, Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute. Katrina has a PhD in neuroscience and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI). She also serves as an ad-hoc scientific advisor to various organisations, including the National Health and Medical Research Council, Czech Science Foundation, Schizophrenia Research Institute and publicly–listed pharmaceutical companies.


Katrina's research aims to improve the pharmacological treatment of mental illness and to promote healthy aging, with a particular interest in exploring the potential of cannabinoids as novel therapeutics. She has 11 years of experience in neuropharmacological research utilising animal and cell models. Dr Green brings to ACRE expertise in quantitative animal research, including a detailed understanding of drug dosing regimens that best reflect human treatment, behavioural testing, and molecular analysis techniques, as well as cell line and primary cell culture methods.

Dr Green leads a research team that were the first to discover the therapeutic benefits of cannabidiol (CBD) on cognition (learning and memory) in a rodent model of schizophrenia. These findings are particularly important as cognitive impairment in schizophrenia is largely untreatable with current antipsychotic medications. Further research from her team is investigating the potential therapeutic benefits of other cannabinoid molecules – a promising and untapped possibility that may prove critical in light of the presently dry antipsychotic drug discovery pipeline. Her team is also exploring the medicinal potential of cannabinoids for other indications, such as depression, autism, age-related illnesses and healthy aging, as well as interactions with gut-microbiota.