Welcome to the Medical Psychology Research Unit (MPRU), directed by Professor Phyllis Butow (School of Psychology) and Professor Martin Tattersall (Faculty of Medicine).

Over the past fifteen years, the MPRU has built an international reputation in psycho-oncology research, and in particular doctor-patient communication in the oncology and palliative care setting. The MPRU is a cross-disciplinary, cross-faculty research group, and includes staff and students from psychology, medicine, public health and nursing backgrounds. Current staff, funded entirely by peer-reviewed grants and scholarships include 6 post-docs, 4 PhD students, 15 research assistants, one administrative officer and various visiting scholars.

The MPRU has been extremely successful in attracting peer reviewed grant money, of approximately $1,000,000 per year and produces on average 16 peer-reviewed high quality publications per year. The MPRU collaborates with a wide range of clinicians and consumers, and therefore the research it conducts has immediate clinical relevance and has influenced practice in a number of areas. The MPRU has close links with the new national Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group which will link academic and clinical psycho-oncologists and cancer trial groups to facilitate large scale projects.

The MPRU prides itself on its warm, supportive and collaborative environment.