Professor Brenda Gannon is a Professor in the School of Economics and Affiliate Professor at the Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, The University of Queensland and an Affiliate Professor at the Mater Research Institute, The University of Queensland. She is also an affiliate member of CEPAR (ARC Centre for Research Excellence in Population Ageing Research). Since 2022, she is Honorary Adjunct Professor at University of Galway, Ireland. Professor Gannon is an international expert in the field of Health Economics of Ageing and has won over $28 million, as chief investigator, in collaborative research income, with economics, medicine and social science with academia and industry. She has developed a range of projects in Economics of Ageing on topics of physical activity and cognition, health shocks and health care utilization, and consumer directed care and home care. She has worked extensively on interdisciplinary research with gerontologists, clinicians and methodologists. Her work has been influential in the development of programs for falls preventions and informing policy on disability and social inclusion and has positively impacted on the health of many older people across the world.
Dr Travers is Research Manager with the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The University of Queensland, Australia where she manages an Occupational Therapy intervention for people with dementia and their carers. Her research interests include ageing, dementia and interventions to improve older people’s quality of life including those with dementia. Catherine has extensive experience, and a soundtrack record in the design, implementation and evaluation of complex projects. She has published her work widely in national and international peer-reviewed journals, has presented her work at national and international conferences and has experience in teaching and supervising both undergraduate and postgraduate psychology students.
Christine Neville is Professor and Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Southern Queensland. Christine is an established research profile in ageing, dementia, mental health and respite care using predominantly quantitative research methods. Her research on the benefits of aquatic exercise for people with dementia particularly its influence in the management of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia led to the development of the internationally renowned Watermemories Swimming Club. Specific research interests include family centred counselling for carers of people with dementia, pain in older people with dementia and respite care for older people with dementia. She has a healthy funding and authorship track records.
Dr Kailas Roberts is a psychogeriatrician and runs a clinic called Your Brain in Mind. This is a multidisciplinary clinic involving doctors, an OT, a physio, neuropsychologists, a clinical psychologist and a pharmacist. The clinic aims to support those who want to either prevent/reduce their risk of dementia as well as to provide holistic care to experiencing cognitive decline in addition to their loved ones and carers.
The dynamic equilibrium of membrane proteins and lipids at the cell surface and intracellular organelles is a critical factor for healthy brain. Dr Merja Joensuu’s research group studies lipid and protein factors governing the secretory pathway dynamics and synaptic membrane trafficking. The group is particularly interested in studying cognitive dysfunction in recessive hereditary spastic paraplegias, and the molecular mechanisms of neurointoxication and viral infections, as well as repurposing small molecule inhibitors to combat these conditions. The group uses advanced imaging techniques such as live cell super-resolution imaging and high-resolution electron microscopy, and a range of cell biological techniques, to understand the molecular mechanisms regulating cellular membrane dynamics. Understanding how neurons function in healthy brain is critical for discovering novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of disease, viral infections and neurointoxication pathologies.
Associate Professor Michelle Lupton is a Senior Research Officer at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute where she co-leads the PISA (Prospective Imaging Study of Aging) cohort study. She is an NHMRC Boosting Dementia Leadership Fellow, CI on an NHRMC Boosting Dementia Research Initiative Team Grant, and an MRFF Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission scheme grant. Michelle specialises in Alzheimer’s disease genome-wide genetic association studies, neuroimaging genetics, genetic risk prediction, and Mendelian Randomisation analysis. Core aims are to improve understanding of the early effect of AD genetic risk factors, identify early disease and prodromal biomarkers and identify casual relationships between potential modifiable risk factors and AD.
Dr Peter Worthy is a post-doctoral (Early Career, PhD awarded 2020) researcher with a background in Interaction Design with a focus on Human-centred Design and Co-design. Dr Worthy is currently working on two projects designing new technologies:
Professor Piers Dawes' research concerns:
A/Prof Cindy Jones has research expertise in ageing. Her research primarily focuses on social and behavioural science research relating to older people, particularly the alleviation of behavioural and psychological symptoms in people living with dementia. Her work examines the effectiveness of innovative health technology and psychosocial interventions to improve the health and wellbeing of people living with dementia and their family carers; and to enhance care provision by health professionals in aged care. One of her significant research works relates to the improvement of knowledge, attitudes and care practices of health professionals towards the expression of sexuality by people living with dementia to enable the facilitation of a care environment that is supportive of the verbalisation and expression of sexual preference, need and desire by people living with dementia.
Dr Daniel Blackmore is a senior post-doctoral research fellow in the Bartlett Laboratory at QBI. His research is focused on the ageing brain and developing approaches to slow or even reverse cognitive decline. Dr Blackmore was one of the first to discover the age-associated decrease in neural stem cells. These stem cells are critical as they are able to generate new neurons which are essential for the formation of new memories. Daniel uses mice to study the exact mechanisms involved in these processes. Excitingly, recent work has shown that physical exercise is very effective at increasing neuron number and improving memory in very old animals. This research, which has important implications for a number of real-world endeavours, has formed the basis for a current human exercise study that is investigating if similar interventions can delay the onset of ageing dementia.
I have been working as a Clinical Neuropsychologist since 2004, my primary position being at the Department of Neurology of the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital (RBWH). Within this role, I worked at the RBWH Memory Clinic for more than 10 years conducting comprehensive cognitive assessments of patients presenting with a range of memory/cognitive difficulties. During a three-year stint in Melbourne between 2016-2018, I also worked at St Vincent’s Hospital both in the Department of Neurosciences and the Cognitive, Dementia and Memory Service. 
Edward “Teddie” Bliss is a Medical Laboratory Science Lecturer. He is an experienced multidisciplinary Medical Laboratory Scientist with laboratory management experience. He has completed research projects that have determined the effects of supplements in animal models of metabolic syndrome and the effects of interventions, such as exercise, on cerebrovascular function and cognition in populations at risk of developing cognitive decline. His primary research areas are focused on cerebrovascular function and cognition, biomarker analysis and cardiometabolic diseases, as well as interventions that can improve these in those who are at an increased risk of declining cardiovascular and brain health leading to neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia. 
A/Professor Vukovic is a Viertel Senior Medical Fellow and heads the Neuroimmunology and Cognition Laboratory that is investigating the interactions between the brain and the immune system in health and disease. Specifically, her team examines the role of brain’s main resident immune cell population (i.e., microglia), as well as various peripheral immune cells, on learning and memory in mice. They’re interested in defining the contribution of immune cells to cognitive tasks where learning and memory deficits can occur, e.g., following brain injury, cancer treatment, and ageing. The goal of the work is to link cellular and molecular events to altered behaviour, and to harness the brain’s intrinsic regenerative potential for stimulating optimal cognitive function.
Laura is an occupational therapist, a researcher, and an educator. She is a PhD Candidate and an Associate Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at The University of Queensland. She works as an occupational therapist and dementia consultant within her own company, Alongside You Pty Ltd, and she is professionally connected to Your Brain in Mind (a clinic based within Westside Private Hospital). Laura’s clinical work involves supporting people living with neurocognitive disorders, such as dementia, as well as providing support and advice to the carers and family members of these individuals. Her PhD research is about enhancing the preparedness of occupational therapy graduates for working with people with dementia. Laura enjoys her various work roles; however, she is most passionate about improving the knowledge and understanding of individuals, communities, and broader society about dementia, including how to best support people who are affected (directly and indirectly) by this condition.
Dr. Mia Schaumberg leads the Active Ageing Research Group at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), where she focusses on optimising lifestyle intervention (exercise, physical activity, diet) to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in later life and help people to engage in their communities, create memories and live well for longer. Her multidisciplinary team works to i) understand mechanisms and biomarkers underpinning healthy ageing, ii) improve health behaviours and outcomes through rigorously designed research trials, and iii) engage with community, government, and stakeholders to improve research impact. 
Dr Nancy A. Pachana is Professor of Clinical Geropsychology in the School of Psychology, and Director, Healthy Ageing Initiative, at The University of Queensland. She is co-director of the UQ Ageing Mind Initiative, and program lead for UQ’s Age Friendly University Initiatives. She has an international reputation in geriatric mental health, and has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and books. Nancy was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in 2014. In 2019, she was awarded the M. Powell Lawton Award, the American Psychological Association’s Society of Clinical Geropsychology Lifetime Achievement Award. 
Professor Wendy Moyle is Program Director, Healthcare Practice and Survivorship Program (4 research groups and a Centre of Research Excellence) in the Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University. Her research expertise is in care of older people and in particular older people with dementia, depression, and delirium. Her research focuses on finding evidence for best practice in care of older people with dementia, improving quality of life, and finding evidence for managing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). She has a keen interest in technologies, and, within a social robotics laboratory, she develops and evaluates assistive technologies and social robots. She has published over 277 manuscripts and has an h-index of 40 (Scopus). 
Queensland Brain Institute Announces First Endowed Chair
Published on: 8 February 2023
Dementia is one of the most pressing health challenges of our time and is the second leading cause of death in Australia. In 2020, around 459,000 Australians were living with dementia and, without a breakthrough, that number is expected to grow to more than 1 million by 2050. There is currently no cure for any dementias.
Recognising the urgent need for focused dementia research, Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research (CJCADR) was established in 2011, thanks to philanthropic support from the Clem Jones Foundation.
The Centre’s mission is to drive treatments and interventions for dementia through the understanding of basic disease mechanisms and translation of these into real-world applications. CJCADR works closely with industry and clinical partners to progress research from discovery to treatment.
The Centre is led by CJCADR Director Professor Jürgen Götz, an international leader in Alzheimer’s disease research and Lesleigh Green - Bill and Nancy Green Endowed Chair in Dementia Research at QBI.Professor Götz’s laboratory is one of the 11 QBI research groups that make up the Centre.
Our researchers are driven by the belief that fundamental research is required to address the growing challenge posed by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The Centre’s activities are focused around three priorities:
- to understand the changes that occur within the brain in dementia;
- to develop new technologies, tools and biomarkers; and
- to design new treatments and preventive approaches.
Our research
CJCADR’s research facilities, within the Queensland Brain Institute, are world-class, with access to cutting-edge imaging technologies, super-resolution microscopy and research super-computing, as well as molecular and cellular technologies in gene-editing, biochemistry and histology.
CJCADR’s research spans:
- fundamental research to understand dementia disease processes at a molecular, cellular and tissue level;
- translational research to develop discoveries toward viable products and therapies;
- clinical studies of diagnostic tools and interventions to improve the health of people living with, and those at risk of developing, dementia.
- engagement with clinicians and the care sector to ensure strong and reciprocal links; and,
- building Australia’s dementia research capacity through the mentoring of early career researchers, and PhD and master’s students.
Contact
Professor Jürgen Götz
Director, CJCADR
+61 7 334 66300
cjcadradmin@qbi.uq.edu.au
Mailing address
Queensland Brain Institute
Level 7, Building 79
University of Queensland
4072, St Lucia,
Queensland, Australia
Sign up for dementia research news
CJCADR draws together 11 of QBI’s research groups, bringing broad expertise in brain research to the challenges presented by dementia.
Bartlett
Neurogenic regulation of cognitionCoulson
Neurotrophins in Alzheimer's diseaseGötz
Basic neuroscience and ageing dementiaHilliard
Molecular and cellular neurobiologyMeunier
Single molecule neuroscienceNestor
Cognitive neurologyRobinson
Cognitive and clinical neuroscienceWalker A.
Neuordegeneration pathobiology
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The Ageing Dementia Research (ADR) Network brings together a virtual network of researchers and clinicians from across Queensland who work in the field of dementia.
The Network aims:
- To grow opportunities for new collaborations and interactions
- Share knowledge
- Increase awareness of dementia research in academia, the clinic, and the community
The intention is for ADR Network members to periodically meet and provide occasions for members to present at CJCADR forums, highlighting their research or clinical observations of dementia.
This study aims to determine the safety of using non-invasive ultrasound to treat Alzheimer's disease in order to progress this potential treatment.
We are currently recruiting people who are:
- Between 50 and 85 years old
- Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
- Available for appointments at The University of Queensland and Mater Hospital
To check your eligibiilty and find out more please visit the Scanning Ultrasound Study website.
Contact us
Please contact us via scanningultrasound@uq.edu.au
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