In Brain Awareness Week 2025, UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) hosted a public lecture at the State Library of Queensland, welcoming more than 100 community members keen to learn more about Living well with dementia.
The event was an opportunity to hear from some of the neuroscientists in the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research striving to solve one of the world’s most significant health challenges and from people whose lives have been directly impacted by dementia.
The panel was chaired by author, linguist and radio host UQ Emeritus Professor Roland (Roly) Sussex OAM. He was joined by QBI neuroscientists Professor Peter Nestor, Professor Lizzie Coulson and Associate Professor Steven Zuryn, and Dementia Australia advocates Dominique (Dom) O’Leary and Jim Rogers.
The conversation about dementia was far-ranging – from how we define and diagnose dementia, how much energy our brain consumes and why scientists are exploring the role of mitochondria and sleep in neurodegenerative diseases to what it feels like to be told you have dementia and the ways that family members can lean in to support someone living with dementia.
Overall, the message was clear—while dementia is a complex challenge, the depth and breadth of research underway at QBI, with the community’s support, gives us hope that a cure is possible within our lifetimes. In the meantime, there’s much we can do to improve what we understand about dementia and how well we care for people living with it.
If you missed the event, you can view the recording here.
If you would like to learn more about how to support QBI’s research, please visit our Give page or consider joining the upcoming QBI Lexus Sunset Soiree.
