Professor Gavan McNally
BSc (Hon) (ºÚÁÏÍø´óʼÇ)
PhD  (ºÚÁÏÍø´óʼÇ)
I am a behavioural neuroscientist. I study the fundamental behavioural and brain mechanisms for learning and motivation and understanding how these apply to clinical conditions such as addictions, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders.  I am interested in identifying these mechanisms, at the cellular, circuit, and systems level and also in translating this fundamental information into new treatments of psychological conditions. To do so, I adopt a systems neuroscience approach combining well controlled behavioural approaches with a variety of approaches (optogenetics, chemogenetics, in vivo calcium imaging, whole brain circuit mapping) in normal and transgenic animals to map and manipulate, at cellular and circuit levels, brain mechanisms. I pursue human translational work and clinical applications with colleagues at University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District, Monash University, and Turning Point.
Current Roles
Editor-in-Chief, Neurobiology of Learning & Memory
President-Elect, European Behavioral Pharmacology Society
Member, Australian Research Council College of Experts
Board Member, Optogenetics Australia
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Current Funding
Australian Research Council
Discovery Project, 2024 - 2026. Risky choices: From cells and circuits to computations and behaviour (CI: McNally). Direct Research Costs: $631,374
Discovery Project, 2025 - 2028. Multimodal mapping of punishment learning (CIs: McNally, Yau). Direct Research Costs: $979,929
National Health and Medical Research Council
Synergy Grant: 2022 - 2026. Linking clinical and basic science discovery to find new treatments for alcohol-use disorder (CIs; Haber, Morley, Lawrence, Manning, Lubman, McNally, Millan, Arunogiri). Direct Research Costs: $5,000,000
Ideas Grant: 2022 - 2026. Novel pathways to abstinence from alcohol seeking (CIs: McNally, Millan, Power). Direct Research Costs: $1,104,880
2008 QEII Fellow, Australian Research Council
2009 Association for Psychological Science, International Rising Star
2010 Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
2010 ºÚÁÏÍø´óÊÂ¼Ç Faculty of Science Staff Excellence Award for Research and Training
2011 Pavlovian Research Award, The Pavlovian SocietyÂ
2012 Future Fellow (Level 3), Australian Research Council
2017 D.G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award, American Psychological Association (for Assareh et al., The organization of defensive behavior elicited by optogenetic excitation of rat lateral or ventrolateral periaqueductal gray." Behavioral Neuroscience, 130,Ìý406-414)
2017 Fellow, American Psychological Association
2019 Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
2021 D.G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award, American Psychological Association (for Peng C.Y, et al. Phasic inhibition of dopamine neurons is an instrumental punisher. Behavioral Neuroscience, 135(3), 415-425)
2022 Ross Day Plenary Lecturer, Australasian Brain and Psychological SciencesÂ
2023 European Behavioural Pharmacology Society Plenary Lecturer
2024 Elspeth McLachlan Plenary Lecturer, Australasian Neuroscience Society
2024 D.G. Marquis Behavioral Neuroscience Award, American Psychological Association (for Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel, P., et al. Translational research in punishment learning. Behavioral neuroscience, 138(3), 143–151)
2025 Gantt Medal, The Pavlovian Society
My Research Supervision
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Hannah Machet
Bart Cooley
Kelly Zhuang
Alexandra Gregory
Kong Fei
Lin Yuan
My Teaching
PSYC2081 Learning & Physiological Psychology
PSYC3051 Physiological Psychology