Assoc. Prof. Francesca Fernandez

Dr Fernandez has completed her Ph.D in 2003 studying the genetic variability of MDMA (or ecstasy) in rat at the Magendie Neuroscience Institute in  France. In keeping with the need for scientists to constantly learn and apply new techniques, Dr Fernandez has then worked in Human Genetics&rsquo field for several years at the Genomics Research Centre, Griffith University, QLD (Australia) and at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (Biopolis, Singapore) for a couple of years looking at memory signalling pathways using neurostem cell culture from transgenic mice. Dr Fernandez has then joined the University of Wollongong where she used her multidisciplinary skills to work on research on mental health, addiction and Alzheimer's Disease. Dr Fernandez was elected as emerging young scientist in the Asia-Pacific region in 2015 with a featured three-page profile published in International Innovation.

In 2016, Dr Fernandez joined Australian Catholic University where she teaches neurosciences and human physiology while continuing her research in genetics and neuroscience fields, through research collaborations in ageing, nutrigenomics, mental health and memory.

Dr Fernandez is the current course coordinator for Bachelor of Biomedical Science on Brisbane Campus and for the Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours) at the National level (please email for any enquiries). She is also the High Degree Research Coordinator for the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Publications in International Peer Reviewed Journals

Fernandez F., Aust C., Lye S., Griffiths LR, Antroquinonol administration in animal preclinical studies for Alzheimer's disease (AD): A new avenue for modifying progression of AD pathophysiology. May 2022. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health, Volume 21,100435.

Fernandez F, Byrne MK, Batterham M, Grant L, Meyer BJ. Associations between Omega-3 Index, Dopaminergic Genetic Variants and Aggressive and Metacognitive Traits: A Study in Adult Male Prisoners. Nutrients. 2022 Mar 2514(7):1379. 

Clarke T, Fernandez FE and Dawson PA (2022) Sulfation Pathways During Neurodevelopment. Front. Mol. Biosci. 9:866196. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.866196 

Meyer BJ, Byrne MK, Cortie CH, Parletta N, Jones A, Eckermann S, Butler T, Greenberg D, Batterham M, Fernandez F, Schofield PW, Winberg PC, Bowles K, Dally J, Martin AM, Grant L. The effect of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids on aggressive behaviour in adult male prisoners: a structured study protocol for a multi-centre, double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial and translation into policy and practice. Trials. 2021 May 222(1):318. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05252-2.

Walter E., Fernandez F., Barkus E. Not all stress is created equal: Acute, not ambient stress, impairs learning in high schizotypes. PsyCh Journal March (2021). DOI: 10.1002/pchj.452

Lye S., Aust C., Griffiths L.R and Fernandez F. Exploring new avenues for modying course of progression of Alzheimer&rsquos Disease: the rise of natural medicine. J Neurol Sci. 2021 Mar 15 422:117332

Cobbold C., Fernandez F., Lys I., ECHO360 Active Learning Platform in Health Sciences education: how, when and why to use it? ECHO360 methodology. International Journal for Innovation Education and Research. (9) 2. Febr.2021 https://doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol9.iss2.2958

Millard SJ, Lum JS, Fernandez F, Weston-Green K, Newell KA. The effects of perinatal fluoxetine exposure on emotionality behaviours and cortical and hippocampal glutamatergic receptors in female Sprague-Dawley and Wistar-Kyoto rats. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2020 Nov 12:110174. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.110174.

Roy N, Barry RJ, Fernandez FE, Lim CK, Al-Dabbas MA, Karamacoska D, Broyd SJ, Solowij N, Chiu CL, Steiner GZ. Electrophysiological correlates of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism. Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 2110(1):17915.   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74780-9

Cassidy L., Fernandez F., Johnson J., Naiker M, Owoola A., Broszczak D. Oxidative Stress in Alzheimer&rsquos Disease: A Review on Emergent Natural Therapies. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 2020 (49) 102294 p

Steiner GZ, Fernandez F.  Coles M, Karamacoska D, Barkus E, Broyd SJ, Solowij N, Watson OT, Chiu CL, Lind JM, Barry RJ. Interrogating the Relationship Between Schizotypy, the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met Polymorphism, and Neuronal Oscillatory Activity. Cereb Cortex. 2019 Jul 529(7):3048-3058

Millard SJ, Lum JS, Fernandez F, Weston-Green K, Newell KA. Perinatal exposure to fluoxetine increases anxiety- and depressive-like behaviours and alters glutamatergic markers in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of male adolescent rats: A comparison between Sprague-Dawley rats and the Wistar-Kyoto rat model of depression.J Psychopharmacol. 2019 Feb33(2):230-243.

Andrews JL, Newell KA, Matosin N, Huang XF, Fernandez F*. Perinatal administration of phencyclidine alters expression of Lingo-1 signaling pathway proteins in the prefrontal cortex of juvenile and adult rats. Accepted for publication in Neuronal Signalling July 2018

Walter EE, Fernandez F, Snelling M, Barkus E. Stress induced cortisol release and schizotypy. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2018 Mar89: 209-215.

Matosin N, Newell KA, Quidé Y, Andrews JL, Teroganova N, Green MJ, Fernandez F. Effects of common GRM5 genetic variants on cognition, hippocampal volume and mGluR5 protein levels in schizophrenia.

Brain Imaging Behav. 2018 Apr12(2):509-517.

Andrews JL, Goodfellow FJ, Matosin N, Snelling MK, Newell KA, Huang XF, Fernandez-Enright F*. Alterations of ubiquitin related proteins in the pathology and development of schizophrenia: Evidence from human and animal studies. J Psychiatr Res. 2017 Jul 90:31-39

Walter E., Fernandez F., Snelling M., Barkus E. Genetic Consideration of Schizotypal Traits: A Review. Frontiers in Psychology. 15 November 2016

Lum JS, Fernandez F, Matosin N, Andrews, J, Huang XF, Ooi L, Newell KA. 2016. Neurodevelopmental Expression Profile of Dimeric and Monomeric Group I mGluRs: Relevance to Schizophrenia Pathogenesis and Treatment. Scientific Reports, 6:34391.

Matosin N, Fernandez F, Lum J, Engel M, Andrews J, Gassen N, Wagner K, Schmidt M, Newell KA. 2016. Molecular evidence of synaptic pathology in the CA1 region in schizophrenia. Npj Schizophrenia, 2:16022. (New Nature Partner Journal)

Fernandez-Enright* and Andrews JL. Lingo-1: a novel target in therapy for Alzheimer&rsquos disease and neurodegenerative disorders? Invited Perspective article published in Neural Regeneration Research. 2016 Jan11(1):88-9

Matosin N, Green MJ, Andrews JL, Newell KA, Fernandez-Enright F*. Possibility of a sex-specific role for a genetic variant in FRMPD4 in schizophrenia, but not cognitive function. Neuroreport. 2016. 27(1): 33-8

Matosin N, Fernandez-Enright F, Lum JS, Newell KA. Shifting towards a model of mGluR5 dysregulation in schizophrenia: Consequences for future schizophrenia treatment.Neuropharmacology. 2015 Sep 6

Andrews J., Fernandez-Enright F*. A decade from discovery to therapy: Lingo-1, the dark horse in neurological and psychiatric disorders Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. Jul 201556:97-114

Andrews J.L, Newell K.A., Matosin N., Huang XF., Fernandez-Enright F*. Lingo-1 signaling factors p75 neurotrophin receptor and Myelin transcription factor 1 may be involved in perinatal PCP induced neurotoxicity and apoptosis Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 2015 Dec 363:91-7

Matosin N., Fernandez-Enright F., Lum J.S., Andrews J.L., Engel M., Huang XF., Newell K.A mGluR5 and mGluR5 endogenous regulators are increased in the CA1 hippocampal region of subjects with schizophrenia Schizophrenia Research   166, Issues 1&ndash3, August 2015, Pages 212&ndash218

Matosin N., Fernandez-Enright F., Fung S.J., Lum J.S., Engel M., Andrews J.L., Huang XF., Weickert C.S., Newell K.A. Alterations of mGluR5 and its endogenous regulators Norbin, Tamalin and Preso1 in schizophrenia: towards a model of mGluR5 dysregulation. Acta Neuropathologica 2015 Jul130(1):119-29.

Andrews JL, Newell KA, Matosin N, Huang XF, Fernandez-Enright F.* NMDA Receptor Antagonism by Phencyclidine Reduces NWASP and WAVE1 Protein Expression and Reduces Levels of Myelination Markers in the Prefrontal Cortex of Rats. J Pharmaceu Pharmacol. 20153(1):8.

Camer D., Yu Y., Szabo A., Fernandez-Enright F., Dinh, and Huang XF. Bardoxolone methyl prevents high-fat diet-induced cognitive deficits, and promotes synaptic plasticity via downstream BDNF signalling in mouse forebrain. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 2015 59: 68.

Andrews J.L., and Fernandez-Enright F*. Investigation of genetic variants in Nogo Receptor signaling pathways in schizophrenia susceptibility BBA Clinical. 2015 doi: 10.1016/j.bbacli.2014.11.008

Andrews J.L. and Fernandez-Enright F*. Investigation of genetic variants in ubiquitin enzyme genes involved in the modulation of neurodevelopmental processes: a role in schizophrenia susceptibility? Genetic Research. 2014 96. doi:10.1017/S0016672314000184

Matosin N., Fernandez-Enright F., Frank L., Deng C., Wong J., Huang XF., Newell KA. Metabotropic glutamate receptors mGluR2/3 and mGluR5 binding in the anterior cingulate cortex in psychotic and non-psychotic depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: implications for novel mGluR-based therapeutics. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience.2014 Jun 2439(4):130242.

Fernandez-Enright F.*^#, Andrews J.L^#, Newell K.A., Pantelis C., Huang XF. Novel Implications of Lingo-1 and its Signalling Partners in Schizophrenia, Translational Psychiatry, 2014 Jan 214 :e348.   ^#co-first author.

Jafari S., Huang XF., Andrews J.L., Fernandez-Enright F*. In Vivo Pharmacological Evaluations of Novel Olanzapine Analogues in Rats: a Potential New Avenue for the Treatment of Schizophrenia, PLOS ONE, 2013.

Maher BH, Lea RA, Follett J, Cox HC, Fernandez F, Esposito T, Gianfrancesco F, Haupt LM, Griffiths LR. Association of a GRIA3 Gene Polymorphism with Migraine in an Australian Case-Control Cohort, Headache. 2013, 53(8):1245-9.

Fernandez-Enright F*, Soon I., Kuan T.C., Min D.H., Wong E., Demidov O., Paterson M.C., Xu L., Dawe G., Bulavin D., Xiao Z.C. Wip1 phosphatase positively modulates dendritic morphology, long-term potentiation and memory through the p38MAPKsignaling pathway, Cell Adhesion & Migration, 2012, 6(4):333-43.

Jafari S., Bouillon M., Huang XF, Pyne S., Fernandez-Enright F* Novel olanzapine analogues presenting a reduced H1 receptor affinity and retained 5HT2A/D2 binding affinity ratio, BMC Pharmacology, 2012, Jun 2212:8.

Hui L, Zhang X, Huang XF, Han M, Fernandez F, Yu Y, Sun S, Li W, Chen DC, Xiu MH, Kosten TR, Zhang XY. The dopamine beta-hydroxylase 19 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism was associated with first-episode but not medicated chronic schizophrenia, Journal Psychiatry Research, 2012, 46(6):733-7.

Neale EP, Muhlhausler B, Probst YC, Batterham MJ, Fernandez-Enright F, Tapsell LC. Short-term effects of fish and fish oil consumption on total and high molecular weight adiponectin levels in overweight adults, Metabolism, 2012, 62(5):651-60.

Jafari, S., Fernandez-Enright, F., Huang, X-F. Structural contributions of antipsychotic drugs to their therapeutic profiles and metabolic side effects, Journal of  Neurochemistry, 2012, 120(3):371-84.

Plummer PN, Colson NJ, Lewohl JM, Mackay RK, Fernandez F, Haupt LM, Griffiths LR. Significant differences in gene expression of GABA receptors in peripheral blood leukocytes of migraineurs, Gene, 2011, 490(1-2):32-6.

Ren H, Collins V, Fernandez F, Quinlan S, Griffiths L, Choo KH. Shorter telomere length in peripheral blood cells associated with migraine in women, Headache, 2010, 50(6):965-72.

Colson N, Fernandez F, Griffiths L. Genetics of menstrual migraine: the molecular evidence. Curr Pain Headache Rep, 2010, 14(5):389-95.

Fernandez F, Colson N, Quinlan S, MacMillan J, Lea RA, Griffiths LR. Association between migraine and a functional polymorphism at the dopamine beta-hydroxylase locus. Neurogenetics, 2009, 10(3):199-208.

Fernandez F, Esposito T, Lea RA, Colson NJ, Ciccodicola A, Gianfrancesco F, Griffiths LR. Investigation of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) A receptors genes and migraine susceptibility, BMC Medical Genetics, 2008, 9:109.

Chikhani S., Fernandez F., Poetter K., Toohey B. Harvey R., Griffiths L.R. Investigation between the S377G3 GATA-4 Polymorphism and Migraine. Open Neurology Journal, 2008, 2:35-38.

Fernandez F., Curtain R., Colson N., Lea R., Griffiths L. R Association Analysis of Chromosome 1 Migraine Candidate Genes. BMC Medical Genetics, 2007, 8(1):57.

Johnson MP., Fernandez F, Colson N, Griffiths L.R. A pharmacogenomic evaluation of migraine therapy. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, 2007, 8(12), pp. 1821-1835.

Mc Callum L., Fernandez F., Lea R., Griffiths L. Association study of a functional variant in intron 8 of the dopamine transporter gene and migraine susceptibility. European Journal of Neurology, 2007, 14(6):706-7.

Fernandez F., Colson N.J., Griffiths L.R. Pharmacogenetics of migraine: genetic variants and their potential role in migraine therapy. Pharmacogenomics, 2007, Jun8(6):609-22.

Tajouri  L., Fernandez F., Tajouri S., Detriche G., Svetko A., Colson N., Csurhes P, Pender M. Griffiths L.R. Allelic variation investigation of the estrogen receptor within an Australian multiple sclerosis population, Journal of Neurological Science, 2007, 252(1):9-12.

Colson NJ, Fernandez F, Lea RA, Quinlan S, Griffiths LR. The Search for Migraine Genes: an overview of current knowledge. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2007, 64(3):331-44.

Fernandez F., Colson N., Lea R., Griffiths L.R Association of functional polymorphism of DBH and consequences on the genetic expression. Journal of Neurological Science, 2006, 251(1-2):118-23.

Tajouri  L., Fernandez F, M. Griffiths L.R. Gene expression studies in Multiple sclerosis. Current Genomics. 2006, 8(3):181-9.

Fernandez F., Porras G., Mormède P., Spampinato U., Chaouloff F. Effects of 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on locomotor activity and extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens of Fischer 344 and Lewis rats. Neuroscience Letters 2003, 335(3):212-6.

Fernandez F., Sarre S., Launay J.M., Aguerre S., Guyonnet-Dupérat V., Moisan M.P. Ebinger G., Michotte Y., Mormède P., Chaouloff F. Rat strain differences in peripheral and central serotonin transporter protein expression and function. European Journal of Neuroscience 2003, 17(3):494-506.

Dias Soares D., Fernandez F., Aguerre S., Foury A., Mormède P., Chaouloff F. Fox odour affects corticosterone release but not hippocampal serotonin reuptake and open field behaviour in rats. Brain Research 2003, 961(1):166-70.

Fernandez F., Aguerre S., Mormède P., Chaouloff F. Influences of the corticotropic axis and sympathetic activity on neurochemical consequences of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) administration in Fischer 344 rats. European Journal of Neuroscience 2002, 16(4):607-18.

Fernandez F, Aguerre S., Mormède P., Chaouloff F. Differential sensitivities to the lethal, but not the neurotoxic, effects of p-chloroamphetamine in inbred rat strains. Neuroscience Letters 2001, 297(1):53-7.

Fernandez F., Coomans V., Mormede P., Chaouloff F. Effects of corticosterone ingestion on hippocampal [(3)H]serotonin reuptake in inbred rat strains. Endocrine Regulation 2001, 35(3):119-26.

Durand M., Aguerre S., Fernandez F., Edno L., Combourieu I., Mormede P., Chaouloff F. Strain-dependent neurochemical and neuroendocrine effects of desipramine, but not fluoxetine or imipramine, in spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto rats. Neuropharmacology 2000, 39(12):2464-77.

Book Chapters

*Corresponding Author

2020       Fernandez F*., Andrews J. , Genetics of dementia: focus on Alzheimer&rsquos Disease. The Neuroscience of Dementia: Diagnosis and Management. Cambridge publication. UK. Publication in August

2020       Andrews J., Fernandez F.*, Salivary biomarkers in Alzheimer&rsquos disease The Neuroscience of Dementia: Diagnosis and Management. Cambridge publication. UK. Publication in August

2007       Colson NJ, Fernandez F, Lea RA, Griffiths LR. &ldquoExpert Commentary A and Chapter I. The Genetics of Migraine&rdquo in Migraine Disorders Research Trends. Ed. Clarke LB. Nova Science Publishers Inc. ISBN 1-60021-553-X.