Professor Jürgen Götz (PhD, Dr. habil, FAHMS, GAICD) is Foundation Chair of Dementia Research, Director of the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research at the Queensland Brain Institute (University of Queensland), NHMRC Leadership Fellow and Ultrasound Team Leader. In 2023 he became the Lesleigh Green - Bill and Nancy Green Endowed Chair in Dementia Research. Jürgen Götz performed undergraduate studies at the Biocenter of the University of Basel, before joining the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Georges Köhler to obtain his PhD degree in immunology. Subsequently, he took up postdoctoral positions at UCSF (San Francisco) and Sandoz Ltd (now Novartis, Basel), and worked as Research Group Leader (venia legendi, Dr. habil.) at the University of Zurich (Switzerland). Before taking up his current position, Jürgen Götz was a Professor and Chair of Molecular Biology at the University of Sydney.

Jürgen Götz is a highly cited researcher (Clarivate) and an expert in basic and translational research in Alzheimer's disease (AD), focusing on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of how Tau and Aβ cause neurodegeneration, using transgenic and cellular models, and exploring low-intensity ultrasound as a novel treatment modality for AD and other brain diseases (>220 publications, including in leading journals such as Science, Cell, Lancet and Neuron; h-index = 86, 27,800+ citations, Google Scholar). Jürgen Götz and his team have built a clinical trial-ready therapeutic ultrasound device and started a first-in-human safety trial in 12 Alzheimer patients (April 2023).

Dr. Liviu-Gabriel Bodea is a Dementia Australia Research Foundation Mid-Career Fellow and leads the Microglia in Health and Disease Research Team within the Prof. Jürgen Götz Group at the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), the University of Queensland (UQ).

Liviu was awarded his Dr.rer.nat. (PhD) title from the University of Bonn, Germany (2014), working in the group of Prof. Harald Neumann, an expert in microglial physiology who identified for the first time a role for the microglial receptor TREM2 (JEM 2005). Liviu then moved to Australia as the Peter Hilton Early Career Fellow in Ageing Dementia Research (2014-2019) under the mentorship of Prof. Jürgen Götz, a world-renowned leader in Alzheimer's disease.

Liviu is a brain cell biologist focusing on the functional crosstalk between microglia, the main resident immune cells of the brain parenchyma, and the surrounding cell types, both in health and disease. He has significant experience in generating and analysing both in vivo and in vitro models (from stable cell lines and primary cultures to novel genetically modified mice) in combination with various biochemical and molecular techniques, ranging from high-resolution microscopy to de novo proteome pathway analysis and generating novel mouse model through CRISPR gene editing.

Liviu has extensive experience in guiding both undergraduate and postgraduate students into the wonders of scientific research :)

Complete List of Published Work: PubMed Bibliography

Funding and Awards

2024-2027 NHMRC Ideas Grant #2030460 (sole CI, salary and research)

2022-2024 Dementia Australia Research Foundation Mid-Carrier Research Fellowship (salary and research)

2022 The University of Queensland Research Stimulus Fellowship (salary)

2019 Emergency Services Queensland Philanthropic Support (research)

2018-2021 NHMRC Project Grant #1147569 (CIB, salary and research)

2014-2019 Peter Hilton Early Career Research Fellowship in Ageing Dement (salary)

Research Impact, Leadership and Professional Activities

Dr. Bodea attracted >3100 citations (h-index 14 @Google Scholar), including 4 articles with >200 citations (Google Scholar) and 3 Highly Cited Publications (Web of Science). In 2021, Expertscape recognised Dr. Bodea as one of the top-rated researchers in the field of tauopathy, placing him in the top 0.8% of >142k published authors worldwide on tauopathies between 2012 and 2021. His work was cited in 18 patents (5 granted).

Dr. Bodea's work on the microglial TYROBP in late-onset AD (Cell 2013, co-first author, Highly Cited Publication @Web of Science) represents a milestone in the field, with >1600 citations (Google Scholar). He also revealed the complement-induced neurodegeneration of dopaminergic neurons following peripheral immune stimulation (JNeurosci 2014, first author). More recently, he coordinated studies that centred on the effect of Tau protein (molecule relevant for Alzheimer's disease) on protein synthesis (EMBO J 2019 and Acta Neuropathologica Communications 2021), the use of artificial amino acids and de novo proteome analysis for the investigation of memory (eLife 2020) and microglial physiology (STARProtocols 2023), and the role of neuronal PTEN enzyme in synaptic engulfment by microglia (Acta Neuropathologica 2020). He published authoritative reviews in the Journal of Neurochemistry (2017), Nature Reviews Neurology (2018), Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2018), and Brain Research Bulletin (2021).

Dr. Bodea acts as a grant reviewer for MS Research Australia (since 2019), Alzheimer’s Australia Dementia Research Foundation (since 2016) and NHMRC (since 2021). He was the Lead Guest Editor for a Special Research Topic in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (2023), is a member of the Reviewer Board for Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience and was a member of the Reviewer Board for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Mental Health section. He is an ad-hoc reviewer for various top-tier publications, ranging from Science to Trends in Cell Biology.

Dr. Bodea has mentored and supervised the daily activity of PhD students (2 completed, 1 current), Honours students (4 completed, all awarded First Class distinctions), 2 research assistants, and >10 undergraduate students. His PhD students successfully received various awards (e.g., the Alistair Rushworth Fellowship, Merk-QBI Best Student Publication Award, Best Oral Presentation Award). Both his completed PhD students continue with academic careers: Dr. Joey Benetatos, following a successful post-doctoral training in the Fraenkel Lab (MIT, USA), is currently pursuing his second post-doctoral position in the Prof. Loren Looger group (UCSD, USA), and Dr. Harrison T Evans is holding an Alzheimer's Association Postdoctoral Fellowship and is the Leon Levy Fellow in the Prof. Eric Klann lab (NYU, USA).