Dr Peter Anderson

B.A., GradDip(Psych), PhD
CR Roper Fellow

Contact details:

Peter Anderson was awarded his PhD in 2002 from The University of Melbourne. In 2004 Dr Anderson was awarded an NHMRC Australian Clinical Research Fellowship, and more recently was awarded the CR Roper Fellowship in the School of Behavioural Sciences at The University of Melbourne. He is also a research fellow at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University of Melbourne. In addition to being co-director of the Victorian Infant Brain Studies (VIBeS) team, he is co-director of the Australian Centre for Child Neuropsychological Studies (AC-CNS), which is the leading centre for paediatric neuropsychological research in Australia.

Dr Anderson’s research over the past 10 years has been primarily based at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and focussed on understanding the mechanisms underlying cognitive and learning problems in children with conditions effecting the brain including type 1 diabetes, meningitis, hydrocephalus, and phenylketonuria (PKU). His current research program aims to improve the long-term outcome for children born very preterm, and he is involved in observational outcome studies, longitudinal neuroimaging studies, and numerous randomised controlled trials assessing the long-term benefits and consequences of a range of obstetric, perinatal, and developmental interventions.

Research Interests:

• Paediatric Neuropsychology
• Cognitive development
  
• Prematurity

Professional Associations & Memberships:

• Australian Psychological Society (APS).
  
• Psychologists Registration Board of Victoria
  
• International Neuropsychological Society (INS)
  
• Perinatal Society of Australia & New Zealand (PSANZ)

Awards:

• NHMRC Training Fellowship (Australian Clinical Research Fellowship), 2004.
• Australian Psychological Society (APS) Early Career Research Award, 2006.
• CR Roper Fellowship, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, 2007.
• Erskine Fellowship (Visiting Scholar), The University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2007.

Recently Funded Research:

Selected Publications (since 2000) :
Refereed Journal Articles:
Grimwood, K., Anderson, P., Anderson, V., Tan, L., & Nolan, T.  (2000).  Twelve-year outcomes following bacterial meningitis: Further evidence for persisting effects. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 83, 111-116.

Willmott, C., Anderson, V., & Anderson, P. (2000). Attention following paediatric head injury: A developmental perspective. Developmental Neuropsychology, 17(3), 361-379.

Anderson, P., Anderson, V., Northam, E., & Taylor, H.  (2000)  Standardization of the Contingency Naming Test for school-aged children: A new measure of reactive flexibility. Clinical Neuropsychological Asessment, 1, 247-273.

Anderson, P., Anderson, V. & Garth, J.  (2001). Assessment and development of organizational ability : The Rey Complex Figure Organizational Strategy Score (RCF-OSS).  The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 15(1), 81-94.

Matthews, L., Anderson, V., & Anderson, P. (2001).  Assessing the validity of the Rey Complex Figure as a diagnostic tool: Accuracy, recall and organisational strategy scores in children with brain insult. Clinical Neuropsychological Asessment, 2, 85-99.

Northam, E, Anderson, P., Jacobs, R., Hughes, M., Warne, G. & Werther, G. (2001). Neuropsychological profiles in children with type 1 diabetes 6 years after disease onset.  Diabetes Care, 24(9), 1541-1546.

Anderson, V., Anderson, P., Northam, E., Jacobs, R., & Catroppa, C.  (2001) Development of executive functions through late childhood and adolescence in an Australian sample.  Developmental Neuropsychology, 20(1), 385-406.

Anderson, P. (2002). Assessment and development of executive function. Child Neuropsychology, 8(2), 71-82.

Anderson, V., Anderson, P., Northam, E., Jacobs, R., & Mickiewicz, O. (2002).  Relationships between cognitive and behavioral measures of executive function in children with brain disease. Child Neuropsychology, 8(4), 231-240.

Anderson, P., Doyle, L.W., & the Victorian Collaborative Study Group. (2003). Neurobehavioral outcomes of school-aged children born extremely low birth weight or very preterm in the 1990s. JAMA, 289(24), 3264-3272.

Anderson, PJ., Wood, S., Francis, D., Coleman, L., Warwick, L., Casanelia, S., Anderson, V., & Boneh, A. (2004). Neuropsychological functioning in children with early-treated phenylketonuria (PKU): impact of white matter abnormalities. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 46, 230-238.

Anderson, V., Anderson, P., Grimwood, K., & Nolan, T. (2004).  Cognitive and executive function twelve-years after childhood bacterial meningitis: Effect of acute neurologic complications and age of onset.  Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 29(2), 67-81.

Anderson, P.J., Doyle, L.W., & the Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group. (2004).  Executive functioning in school-aged children born very prematurely or with extremely low birth weights in the 1990s. Pediatrics, 114, 1, 50-57.

Northam, E., Matthews, L., Anderson, P., Cameron, F., & Werther, G. (2005). Psychiatric morbidity and health outcome in type 1 diabetes - perspectives from a prospective longitudinal study. Diabetic Medicine, 22(2), 152-157.

Lajoie, G., Anderson, V., Anderson, P., Tucker, A., & Manly, T. (2005). Effects of methylphenidate on attention skills in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.  Brain Impairment, 6(1), 21-32.

Doyle, LW., Anderson, PJ., and the Victorian Collaborative Study Group. (2005) Improved neurosensory outcome at 8 years of age of extremely low birthweight children born in Victoria over 3 distinct eras.  Archives of Disease in Childhood – Fetal & Neonatal Edition, 90, F484-F488.

Sherlock, RL, Anderson, PJ, Doyle, LW, and the Victorian Infant Collaborative Study Group. (2005) Neurodevelopmental Sequelae of Intraventricular Haemorrhage at 8 Years of Age in a Regional Cohort of ELBW/Very Preterm Infants. Early Human Development; 81(11), 909-916 (accepted July, 2005)

Anderson, V., Anderson, D., & Anderson, P.  (2006) Comparing attentional skills in children with acquired and developmental central nervous system disorders.  Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 12(14), 519-531. (accepted Jan, 2006)

Shah, D.K., Anderson, P.J., Carlin, J.B., Pavlovic, M., Howard, K., Thompson, D.K., Warfield, S.K., & Inder, T.E. (2006). Reduction in cerebellar volumes in preterm infants: Relationship to white matter injury and neurodevelopment at two years of age. Pediatric Research, 60(1), 97-102.

Woodward LJ, Anderson PJ, Austin N, Howard K, & Inder TE. (2006). Neonatal MRI to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants. New England Journal of Medicine, 355, 685-694.

Anderson, P.J., & Doyle, L.W. (2006) Neurodevelopmental outcome of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Seminars in Perinatology, 30(4), 227-232.

Inder TE, Woodward LJ, & Anderson PJ. (2006) Neonatal MRI and neurodevelopmental outcomes. New England Journal of Medicine, 355(22), 2374 (Letter – Author’s response)

Books/chapters:
Anderson, V., Jacobs, R., & Anderson P. (Eds.), Executive functions and the frontal lobes: A life span approach. Psychology Press. Due for release early 2007.

Anderson, P. (in press). Towards a developmental model of executive function. In Anderson, V., Jacobs, R., & Anderson P. (Eds.), Executive functions and the frontal lobes: A life span approach. Psychology Press.

Anderson, V., Jacobs, R., & Anderson, P. (in press). Developmental processes: frontal lobes and executive function. In Anderson, V., Jacobs, R., & Anderson P. (Eds.), Executive functions and the frontal lobes: A life span approach. Psychology Press.

Doyle, LW. & Anderson, PJ. (in press). Impact of perinatal lung disease injury in later life. In Bancalari, E., Bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Howard, K., Anderson, P.J., Taylor, H.G. (in press). Executive function and attention in children born very preterm. In Anderson, V., Jacobs, R., & Anderson P. (Eds.), Executive functions and the frontal lobes: A life span approach. Psychology Press.

PhD Students under supervision:
Kelly Howard, Megan Spencer-Smith, Michelle Wilson-Ching, Carly Molloy, Gehan Roberts (Paediatrics)