Professor Bellgrove has been at the forefront of international efforts to identify objective and quantifiable indices of genetic risk, termed endophenotypes, for ADHD. His early work identified reliable linkages between catecholamine risk genes for ADHD and distinct neurocognitive profiles. This work was published in high impact journals, has attracted high citations and continues to be influential in shaping the way the field approaches the issue of clinical and aetiological heterogeneity that besets psychiatric genetics. With papers in top-tier journals including Molecular Psychiatry, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Human Behaviour, Neuron and the Journal of Neuroscience, Professor Bellgrove is a recognized international expert on the molecular genetics of attention and attention deficit. The research achievements of Professor Bellgrove have been recognized with awards from NARSAD (USA), the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and Biological Psychiatry Australia. In 2021 he was elected to Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA). In 2021 he was also recognised as Supervisor of the Year within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University.

His programme of research is funded by both the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and Australian Research Council (ARC). He is currently a Senior Research Fellow (Level B) of the NHMRC.

In 2016 Professor Bellgrove founded the Australian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA), an interdisciplinary group devoted to advancing evidence-based diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in Australia.  He has recently led the development of the Australian evidence-based clinical practice guideline for ADHD, following an NHMRC approved process.