Our Vision
Better health for Tasmanians with mental illness, Huntington’s disease, or dementia.
Our Mission
The Southern Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Aged Psychiatry (SINAPS) exists to develop research, teaching, and services within Old Age Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry.
Our Values
Collaboration, kindness, and dedication to our patients.
About Us
SINAPS was founded in 2019 in the context of a growing Older Persons Mental Health Service (OPMHS, part of Tasmania Health Service) and an increasing number of like-minded doctors interested in improving teaching, research, and services in Old Age Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry.
We hope to increase academic and teaching enterprises to compliment and benefit the clinical work we do every day.
Members of SINAPS have worked for a combined 60+ years within the local health service. This has included the development of many productive working relationships with colleagues in Geriatric Medicine, Psychiatry, Neurology, Radiology, and Clinical Genetics. We will continue to build on these relationships to develop an even more collaborative and integrated health service to benefit all Tasmanians.
Our Team
Dr Hannah Lake
MBBS, FRANZCP
Director of SINAPS
Clinical Director of The Hobart Clinic.
Dr Lake graduated in medicine from Monash University and trained as a junior doctor at the Royal Hobart Hospital. She entered training as a Psychiatry Registrar after developing an interest in the intersect between psychiatry and general medicine. Dr Lake returned from two years in Melbourne where she worked in the Department of Neuropsychiatry at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She subsequently worked with the Older Persons Mental Health Service at the Roy Fagan Centre, before moving into private practice. Dr Lake has an interest in organic brain disorders including young onset dementias and other neurodegenerative disorders including multiple sclerosis, encephalopathies, and Huntington’s Disease. Dr Lake was appointed Clinical Director of The Hobart Clinic in 2020.
Dr Matthew Fasnacht
MBBS(Hons), FRANZCP, Cert Old Age Psych
Statewide Specialty Director of OPMHS Tasmania and Huntington’s Disease Service Tasmania
Dr Fasnacht graduated with Honours in Medicine from the University of Tasmania. He subsequently trained in psychiatry and initially worked as a general adult psychiatrist. He completed further training in old age psychiatry and has been working in the Older Persons Mental Health Service as a specialist psychiatrist for more than 15 years. In 2022 he was appointed Statewide Specialty Director for OPMHS. He is also a longstanding specialisit within the Huntington’s Disease service in Tasmania. He has a broad range of interests in the neuropsychiatric aspects of neurological diseases and was the Principal Investigator for the 2021 Huntington’s Disease prevalence study.
Dr Martin Morrissey
MBBS, FRANZCP, Cert Old Age Psych
Honorary founding member.
