Dr Catherine Franklin

Senior Research Fellow

Mater Research Institute-UQ
Faculty of Medicine
c.franklin1@uq.edu.au
+61 7 3163 1625

Overview

Dr Cathy Franklin is passionate about improving the health of people with intellectual disability and those on the autism spectrum. Cathy is a psychiatrist who has specialised in the psychiatry of intellectual disability and autism in adolescents and adults since 2004. Her career focussed on clinical work and education until 2015, when she commenced a part-time research appointment, in addition to her clinical work. Cathy is the inaugural Director of the Mater Intellectual Disability and Autism Service (MIDAS), a state-wide clinical service established in 2018 that works to improve the health and mental health of adults with intellectual disability and those on the autism spectrum. Cathy is also Director of QCIDD, the Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability, a centre established in 1997 by Professor Nick Lennox, and best known for its many contributions to health of people with intellectual disability, including the CHAP health assessment tool and the AbleX massive open-online course that Cathy contributed mental health content to.

Cathy's research interests include health services research and the biological underpinnings and health sequelae of conditions occurring in this population. She is Chief Investigator on several projects, including the EASY-Health (Enhancing Access to Services for Your Health) Project, funded by the Australian Government NDIS ($2.3 million 2020-2024) and the NHMRC funded grant ($1.5M), Bridge to Better Health, investigating whether specialised support to primary care nurses can improve the health of people with intellectual disability attending their practice. Cathy also led MIDAS' successful application as a lead consortium member for the National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health ($22.6M over 4 years; consortium led by UNSW). Cathy is a regular presenter at national and internaitonal conferences, often as an invited speaker. She has served on the committee of the RANZCP Section of Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability for over 10 years, is chair of the Qld Branch of the Section and also serves as Vice-President of the Australian Association of Developmental Disability Medicine (AADDM). In 2020 she was awarded the Mater Research Sister Regis Dunne award for Outstanding Contribution to research relative to opportunity.

Research Impacts

Cathy, along with colleague Dr Katie Brooker, made a submission and gave evidence at teh Queensland Parliament Mental Health Select Committee in 2022, outlining the evidence around the difficulties that people with intelelctual disabitliy and those on the autism spectrum experience when accessing healthcare. The Committee made a number of recommendations, including that there shoudl be a Queensland Centre of Excellence established in this area. The Queensland Government accepted this recommendation and is funding a new Queensland Centre of Excellence in Intellectual and Developmental Disbailtiy Mental Health.

Qualifications

  • Member, Society for the Study of Behavioural Phenotypes, Society for the Study of Behavioural Phenotypes
  • Fellow, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
  • Member, Down Syndrome Medical Interest Group-USA, Down Syndrome Medical Interest Group-USA
  • Senior Member, Australian Association of Developmental Disability Medicine, Australian Association of Developmental Disability Medicine
  • Masters (Research), The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and Medical Science, The University of Queensland

Publications

View all Publications

Publications

Book

  • Hall, Caroline, Amor, David, Cohen, Jonathan, Davis, Robert, Durvasula, Seeta, Franklin, Catherine, Hemsley, Bronwyn, Karve, Avanti, Kyrkou, Margaret, Lennox, Nicholas, Leonard, Helen, Marraffa, Catherine, McVilly, Keith, Ng, Raphael, Palmer, Hugh, Shek, Annie, Siegel-Brown, Natalie, Small, Jacqueline, Somerville, Ernest, Tracy, Jane, Wilson, Nathan J., Wishart, Jo and Zimmet, Marcel eds. (2021). Developmental Disability, at eTG online. Melbourne, VIC Australia: Therapeutic Guidelines.

  • Judd, Fiona, Burkett, Ellen, Chan, Betty, Franklin, Catherine, Isoardi, Katherine, Kalucy, Megan, Kanagarajah, Shanthi, Knott, Jonathon, Koutsogiannis, Zeff, McLorinan, C. Paula, Munir, Venita, Rowles, Greg, Waddell, Lisa and Wilkin, Claire eds. (2021). Psychotropic Guidelines (eTG Complete). Melbourne, VIC Australia: Therapeutic Guidelines.

Book Chapter

  • Franklin, Catherine (2023). Forensic Aspects of Neurodevelopmental Disorders: An Australasian Perspective. Forensic Aspects of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Forensic Aspects of Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Clinician's Guide. (pp. 277-299) edited by Jane M. McCarthy, Regi T. Alexander and Eddie Chaplin. Cambridge, United Kingdom: University of Cambridge. doi: 10.1017/9781108955522.023

  • Franklin, Catherine (2012). Psychiatric disorders: assessment. Management Guidelines: Developmental Disability. (pp. 143-151) edited by Susie Rogers. West Melbourne, Australia: Therapeutic Guidelines.

Journal Article

  • Brooker, K. S., De Greef, R., Trollor, J. N., Franklin, C. S. and Weise, J. (2024). Intellectual disability healthcare in Australia: Progress, challenges, and future directions. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 21 (1) e12497. doi: 10.1111/jppi.12497

  • Santoro, Jonathan D., Khoshnood, Mellad M., Jafarpour, Saba, Nguyen, Lina, Boyd, Natalie K., Vogel, Benjamin N., Kammeyer, Ryan, Patel, Lina, Manning, Melanie A., Rachubinski, Angela L., Filipink, Robyn A., Baumer, Nicole T., Santoro, Stephanie L., Franklin, Catherine, Tamrazi, Benita, Yeom, Kristen W., Worley, Gordon, Espinosa, Joaquin M. and Rafii, Michael S. (2024). Neuroimaging abnormalities associated with immunotherapy responsiveness in Down syndrome regression disorder. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. doi: 10.1002/acn3.52023

  • Ware, Robert S., Franklin, Catherine, McPherson, Lyn and Lennox, Nicholas G. (2024). Health checks for people with down syndrome: a pooled analysis of three randomized controlled trials. Disabilities, 4 (1), 101-110. doi: 10.3390/disabilities4010007

  • Edwards, Nicole, Franklin, Catherine, king, Julie and Watling, Hanna (2024). Australian psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists’ perceptions of chemical restraint of adults with intellectual disability. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 17 (1), 65-77. doi: 10.1080/19315864.2023.2192689

  • Santoro, Jonathan D, Spinazzi, Noemi A, Filipink, Robyn A, Hayati-Rezvan, Panteha, Kammeyer, Ryan, Patel, Lina, Sannar, Elise A, Dwyer, Luke, Banerjee, Abhik K, Khoshnood, Mellad, Jafarpour, Saba, Boyd, Natalie K, Partridge, Rebecca, Gombolay, Grace Y, Christy, Alison L, Real de Asua, Diego, Del Carmen Ortega, Maria, Manning, Melanie A, Van Mater, Heather, Worley, Gordan, Franklin, Cathy, Stanley, Maria A, Brown, Ruth, Capone, George T, Quinn, Eileen A and Rafii, Michael S (2023). Immunotherapy responsiveness and risk of relapse in Down syndrome regression disorder. Translational Psychiatry, 13 (1) 276, 276. doi: 10.1038/s41398-023-02579-z

  • Oreskovic, Nicolas M., Baumer, Nicole T., Di Camillo, Chiara, Cornachia, Michelle, Franklin, Catherine, Hart, Sarah J., Kishnani, Priya S., McCormick, Andrew, Milliken, Anna L., Patsiogiannis, Vasiliki, Pawlowski, Katherine G., Santoro, Stephanie L., Sargado, Sabrina, Scoppola, Vittorio, Torres, Amy, Valentini, Diletta, Vellody, Kishore, Villani, Alberto and Skotko, Brian G. (2023). Cardiometabolic profiles in children and adults with overweight and obesity and down syndrome. American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A, 191 (3), 813-822. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.63088

  • Santoro, Stephanie L., Baumer, Nicole T., Cornacchia, Michelle, Franklin, Catherine, Hart, Sarah J., Haugen, Kelsey, Hojlo, Margaret A., Horick, Nora, Kishnani, Priya S., Krell, Kavita, McCormick, Andrew, Milliken, Anna L., Oreskovic, Nicolas M., Pawlowski, Katherine G., Sargado, Sabrina, Torres, Amy, Valentini, Diletta, Vellody, Kishore and Skotko, Brian G. (2023). Response to Letter to the Editor by Palffy and Ghaziuddin. American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part A, 191 (5), 1470-1473. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.63116

  • Franklin, Catherine (2023). Forensic Aspects of Neurodevelopmental Disorders: An Australasian Perspective. Forensic Aspects of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 277-299.

  • Santoro, Stephanie L., Baumer, Nicole T., Cornacchia, Michelle, Franklin, Catherine, Hart, Sarah J., Haugen, Kelsey, Hojlo, Margaret A., Horick, Nora, Kishnani, Priya S., Krell, Kavita, McCormick, Andrew, Milliken, Anna L., Oreskovic, Nicolas M., Pawlowski, Katherine G., Sargado, Sabrina, Torres, Amy, Valentini, Diletta, Vellody, Kishore and Skotko, Brian G. (2022). Unexplained regression in Down syndrome: Management of 51 patients in an international patient database. American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part A, 188 (10), 3049-3062. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.62922

  • Flavell, Joshua, Franklin, Catherine and Nestor, Peter J. (2022). A systematic review of fragile X-associated neuropsychiatric disorders. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 35 (2), 110-120. doi: 10.1176/appi.neuropsych.21110282

  • Santoro, Jonathan D., Patel, Lina, Kammeyer, Ryan, Filipink, Robyn A., Gombolay, Grace Y., Cardinale, Kathleen M., Real de Asua, Diego, Zaman, Shahid, Santoro, Stephanie L., Marzouk, Sammer M., Khoshnood, Mellad, Vogel, Benjamin N., Tanna, Runi, Pagarkar, Dania, Dhanani, Sofia, Ortega, Maria del Carmen, Partridge, Rebecca, Stanley, Maria A., Sanders, Jessica S., Christy, Alison, Sannar, Elise M., Brown, Ruth, McCormick, Andrew A., Van Mater, Heather, Franklin, Cathy, Worley, Gordon, Quinn, Eileen A., Capone, George T., Chicoine, Brian ... Rafii, Michael S. (2022). Assessment and diagnosis of Down syndrome regression disorder: international expert consensus. Frontiers in Neurology, 13 940175, 940175. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.940175

  • Santoro, Stephanie L., Cannon, Sheila, Capone, George, Franklin, Cathy, Hart, Sarah J., Hobensack, Victoria, Kishnani, Priya S., Macklin, Eric A., Manickam, Kandamurugu, McCormick, Andrew, Nash, Patricia, Oreskovic, Nicolas M., Patsiogiannis, Vasiliki, Steingass, Katherine, Torres, Amy, Valentini, Diletta, Vellody, Kishore and Skotko, Brian G. (2019). Unexplained regression in Down syndrome: 35 cases from an international Down syndrome database. Genetics in Medicine, 22 (4), 767-776. doi: 10.1038/s41436-019-0706-8

  • White, Melissa and Franklin, Catherine (2018). Adult with autism spectrum disorder presenting with insidious onset of catatonia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 52 (11), 1092-1093. doi: 10.1177/0004867418802898

  • Theodoratos, Oreste, McPherson, Lyn, Franklin, Catherine, Tonge, Bruce, Einfeld, Stewart, Lennox, Nicholas and Ware, Robert S. (2017). Psychopathology of adolescents with an intellectual disability who present to general hospital services. Australasian Psychiatry, 25 (5), 481-485. doi: 10.1177/1039856217706820

  • Trollor, Julian N., Salomon, Carmela and Franklin, Catherine (2016). Prescribing psychotropic drugs to adults with an intellectual disability. Australian Prescriber, 39 (4), 126-130. doi: 10.18773/austprescr.2016.048

  • Franklin, Cathy (2014). Obituary: Professor Gregory O'Brien (1955-2014). Australasian Psychiatry, 22 (6), 601-602. doi: 10.1177/1039856214558986c

Conference Publication

Other Outputs