Professor McConnell is the Clinical Sub Dean at Griffith University School of Medicine and Director of Neurosciences at St. Vincent's Hospital Brisbane. He also chairs the Queensland Health working group on Neuropsychiatry and Intellectual Disability and the South East Queensland Disability Council as well as being a member of the Queensland Disability Advisory Council. He has worked in Special Education and also trained in both Neurology and Psychiatry, specialising in Epilepsy and Neurodisability with over 25 years experience. He has published widely with many high impact publications. Professor McConnell is one of only a handful of Queenland doctors to be given International Premeinant Status in Queensland and was also awarded his Fellowship with the Australia New Zealand College of Psychiatrists on the basis of his international eminence.