Dr. Iliana Magiati (she/ her) is an Associate Professor at the School of Psychological Science (SPS), The University of Western Australia. She was born and grew up in Athens, Greece and studied, worked and lived in Greece, the UK and Singapore before moving to Whadjuk Noongar land (Perth) in WA in 2020. She was previously an Associate Professor (2017-2019) and an Assistant Professor (2009-2017) at the Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore (NUS).

She completed her doctoral training in clinical psychology (D.Clin.Psy.) at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, UK in 2006 and her research Ph.D. at St George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London, UK on early interventions for children on the autism spectrum in 2005 with Prof. Patricia Howlin. She worked as a research Psychologist in academic & research settings in the UK and as a clinical psychologist within multidisciplinary child development & community child psychology teams in the UK National Health Service before moving to Singapore and NUS in 2009. 

Her research focuses on better understanding and supporting the mental health and well-being of autistic people, with a focus on the social and psychological experiences that hinder or promote their wellbeing, such as camouflaging, autistic burnout, identity, diagnostic disclosure and others. Specific research projects and interests include: investigating the presentation, experiences, assessment of, and factors associated with, anxiety in autistic young people and adults; identification, diagnosis and post-diagnostic supports for autistic people identified in adolescence or adulthood; psychosocial correlates of camouflaging/ masking and burnout and their impact on autistic people's wellbeing; supporting autistic people in higher education; and adult outcomes and ways to enhance these with and for autistic people.

Iliana is an Editor for the journal Autism: the international journal of research and practice (Sage publications). She is a member of the Editorial Board for the journals Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders (RASD) and Neurodiversity. She has served autism research in Australasia since 2015 in her role as member, webmaster and social media coordinator of the Australasian Society for Autism Research (ASfAR) Executive Committee. She is a UK registered Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical Psychologist) with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and a registered psychologist with the Singapore Psychological Society (SPS). She is also an independent Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) trainer.

At UWA, she is the Co-Ordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Autism Diagnosis (GCAD) and in 2022-23 has led the development of a series of seven online microcredentials in autism assessment and diagnosis now available via UWA Plus, together with Dr. Lauren Taylor. She also serves as the Deputy Chair of the UWA Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Working Group and co-ordinates the SPS-UniAccess peer mentoring programme for autistic students at UWA and the School of Indigenous Studies-SPS peer mentoring programme for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander UWA psychology students. She is a member of the AIPEP (Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project) Community of Practice. 

Autism; mental health and well-being of autistic people, with a focus on anxiety; understanding psychological and social factors contributing to poorer mental health in autistic people; masking/ camouflaging in autistic people and its psychosocial correlates; autistic burnout; identification, diagnosis and supports for autism in adolescence and adulthood; supporting autistic people in higher education; post-diagnostic supports for later-diagnosed autistic adolescents and adults; improving measurement of mental health and wellbeing in autistic adults.

I am passionate about teaching and sharing my curiocity and interest in understanding human behavior, clinical psychology and autism. I have taught various undergraduate and postgraduate units in my previous position at the National University of Singapore (NUS), including Pediatric Psychology, Child Abnormal Psychology, Psychological Interventions and Therapies, Child Psychopathology, and have won the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences excellence in teaching awards four times between 2010 and 2019. 

At UWA, I co-ordinate and teach PSYC5673 Foundations in Clinical Skills II for first year clinical psychology and neuropsychology postgraduate students with Dr. Andrew Sheridan. I co-teach the PSYC5522 Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule training unit as part of the Graduate Certificate in Autism Diagnosis with Dr. Lauren Taylor. I also teach some of the specialist workshops in PSYC5511 (Special Topics in Clinical Psychology) and teach some of the lectures and tutorials in PSYC4413 (Psychological Research and Practice). 

My research is guided by the autistic community's research priorities and most of my research work is carried out in partnership with autistic advisors and consultants and/or with input from community reference groups.

In 2020-22, I have been involved with a team of wonderful autistic and non-autistic researchers from four Australian universities and one charity, interviewing more than 130 autistic people and their families from all over Australia about their experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic. You can find the report from this research here: https://www.sydney.edu.au/sydney-policy-lab/news-and-analysis/news-commentary/the-everyday-experiences-of-autistic-people-and-their-families-d.html and some news coverage here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-16/autism-in-the-covid-lockdown-struggling-with-telehealth/12555866

My article, co-written with Dr. Jac den Houting from Macquarie University, on what can be done to better support autistic people and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyong can be found here: https://www.news.uwa.edu.au/2020050612059/covid-19/covid-19-autistic-people-and-their-families-should-not-be-left-behind-during-

2017-2019: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore (NUS)

2009-2017: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore (NUS)

2007: Clinical Psychologist, Highbury and Islington National Health Service Trust, Child Development Team and Community Child Psychology Service, London, UK

2003-2006: Clinical Psychologist in Training, South London and Maudsley National Health Service Trust, London, UK

1998-2003: Part-time or casual Research Psychologist or Research Assistant for research studies conducted by the Universities of Keele, Nottingham or St. George's Hospital Medical School on extremely premature children's outcomes, interventions for autistic children, and Turner's syndrome.

English

Greek (native speaker)

French (beginner/ intermediate)

In addition to ongoing projects, I have been awarded a UWA Research Collaboration Award for 2023 for a project titled "What do recently diagnosed autistic adolescents need and want from post-diagnostic support programmes? A preliminary scoping review and feasibility study collaboration", a collaboration with leading autism researchers in UCL, Southampton, UWA, Macquarie and UNSW.

As I currently have a large number of PhD students, I will likely only be able to accept one or two PhD students as the primary/co-ordinating supervisor in 2025.

Current Roles

Deputy Chair, UWA Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Working Group (2024-current)

Course Co-ordinator, UWA Graduate Certificate for Autism Diagnosis (GCAD; 2020-current)

Co-ordinator of the School of Indigenous Studies- School of Psychological Science (SIS-SPS) peer mentoring programme for Aboriginal and/ or Torres Islander Psychology Students (2020-current)

Co-ordinator of the UWA SPS-UniAccess peer mentoring programme for autistic university students (2023-current)

Representative/ Selected Past Roles

Deputy Director, School of Psychological Science (UWA SPS) Postgraduate Education Committee (2022)

UWA Faculty of Science Online and Blended Learning Taskforce Working Group (2020)

Acting Director, Masters in Clinical Psychology Programme, National University of Singapore (2019)

Deputy Director, Masters in Clinical Psychology Programme, National University of Singapore (2017-18)

Research Co-ordinator, Masters in Clinical Psychology Programme, National University of Singapore (2010-2018)

Admissions Co-ordinator, Masters in Clinical Psychology Programme, National University of Singapore (2017)