RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL ILLNESS AND MENTAL WELLBEING
Dr Matthew Iasiello, Head of Data and Research Translation, Be Well Co,
SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute) &
Post Doctoral Researcher, University of Adelaide
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Adelaide, South Australian | December 2024
Since 2015, Dr Matthew Iasiello has been working on the development and dissemination of mental wellbeing interventions across the Australian community at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). His PhD research was designed specifically to strengthen the translational work conducted by SAHMRI, and to solve problems that represented gaps in the literature that were arising when delivering mental wellbeing interventions into the community. The impact and relevance of Dr Iasiello’s work has been demonstrated with invited presentations at international academic conferences, and multiple media stories with significant online engagements.
Dr Iasiello’s research investigates the dual-continua model, an innovative model of mental health. The dual-continua model of mental health suggests that mental illness and mental wellbeing reflect distinct continua, rather than the extreme ends of a single spectrum. This novel conceptualisation of the relationship between mental illness and mental wellbeing has significant implications in the way we promote mental health, and prevent, treat, and recover from mental illness. However, little is known about the evidence validating the model, and whether this evidence supports the implications that have been proposed in the literature.
Dr Iasiello’s PhD project synthesises the relevant evidence supporting the model, provides further evidence of the role of mental wellbeing in the recovery of mental illness, and addresses important limitations in the current assessment of mental wellbeing in the context of psychological distress and mental illness.
He is engaged in the development of mental wellbeing services and products that emerge directly from the new knowledge generated from his PhD, translated into the community via SAHMRI. This has resulted in the development and evaluation of the Be Well Plan (https://www.bewellco.io/bwt), and evidence-based wellbeing intervention (over 5,000 participants since 2020), and the Be Well Tracker https://www.bewellco.io/be-well-plan, a free online assessment platform that Australians can use to assess and monitor their mental health (20,000 users since 2019).
-
Environmental exposure to function of lung epithelial stem cell biology
Dr Clare Weeden has recently commenced as a Laboratory Head at WEHI in 2025, supported by the CSL Centenary Fellowship.
Dr Weeden specialises in lung epithelial cell biology in the context of homeostasis, inflammation, and lung cancer, particularly in people who don’t smoke. Her work endeavours to understand how past environmental exposures shape the responses of lung cells and the molecular mechanisms underlying this cellular recall, with the aim to develop novel early detection strategies for lung disease.
-
Post stroke brain recovery targeting blood flow and vessel health
Dr Daniel Beard is a Senior Lecturer and Group Leader of the Neurovascular Research Laboratory at the University of Newcastle, with a distinguished career in stroke research. Dr Beard completed his PhD in Human Physiology in 2015, uncovering the impact of intracranial pressure on collateral vessel failure. He has held prestigious research and teaching roles at the University of Oxford and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, contributing to international collaborations on neurovascular protection. His research has been supported by competitive grants, including an NHMRC Ideas Grant, and he has received numerous awards for innovation, research excellence and teaching excellence.
-
Prescribing exercise to regional population with cardiovascular disease & diabetes
Associate Professor Gordon’s research is aimed at determining the optimal methods of prescribing and implementing exercise as part of the health care plan for people with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Specifically, he is leading work to determine if and how the components of exercise can be considered as a whole for prescribing exercise to generate health benefits. This is important to overcome the series of barriers that people living in rural and regional areas experience when trying to become active.
