Professor Richard Kanaan is a psychiatrist, researcher and author with an international reputation. His primary research interest is building explanations for unexplained syndromes such as conversion disorder. He has employed a number of approaches, including neuropsychology, neuroimaging, social psychiatry and philosophy.

Professor Kanaan is Chair of Psychiatry at Austin Health, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, and Honorary Professorial Fellow at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. He developed conversion disorder programs and led specialist clinics in the area.

His scholarly writing has been published in several prestigious journals. Recent work has appeared in Epilepsy & Behavior, Journal of Neurology and General Hospital Psychiatry. Professor Kanaan has been consulted by mainstream media such as the ABC and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Prior to his position at Austin Health, Professor Kanaan was based at the Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry in London, where he spent over a decade pursuing research in various fields.