Professor Richard Porter

Richard Porter is Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch. He is also a Consultant Psychiatrist for Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand). He works in a service treating adults with intellectual disability who also have complex mental health issues. He also sees patients with severe mood disorders and his research is mainly focused on understanding better treatments for mood disorders. Recently he has studied psychological and chronobiological treatments for mood disorders. He is also involved in research into the effects of trauma, particularly the Christchurch earthquake and the March 15th terror attacks.

He has published around 300 scientific papers related to mental health issues.

Richard has worked with and researched people with severe depression and mania and will oversee the NZ study in people suffering from these conditions.