Blog: The Brain Dialogues, filtered by tag: CHeBA Staff

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au The breadth of research groups and studies at CHeBA make it a leader in the global epidemiology of dementia, with the data available making the Centre a rich resource for not just researchers, but also students.  According to the Co-Directors of CHeBA, Professor Perminder Sachdev and Professor Henry Brodaty, the calibre of students the Centre has supported has been outstanding.  Recent PhD graduate, Dr Rebecca Koncz, is no exception. Dr Koncz led a world first study using data from CHeBA’s long-standing Older Australian Twins Study, using a brain… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au Across the globe, people are fascinated and intrigued by centenarians – the group of incredible human beings that defy the odds and live to 100 and beyond.  Over the last 20 years, the number of Australians who were living to over 85 years of age has risen by 110%; an extraordinary increase and begs the question as to whether this trajectory will continue. Sydney near-centenarian Mrs Patricia Segal is the hallmark of positive ageing. She is a participant in CHeBA’s Sydney Centenarian Study which explores the genetic and environmental determinants of… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au Study Co-Ordinator of CHeBA’s Sydney Memory & Ageing Study, Dr Katya Numbers, was invited to present on participants’ subjective experience of cognitive decline at the 4th Annual Australia Dementia Forum 2019 Conference (ADF) in Hobart in June. The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study began in 2005 to examine clinical characteristics and prevalence of mild cognitive impairment and to determine the rate of change of cognitive function over time. Since its inception, the study has included over 1,000 older adult Sydney residents making it one of the… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au Two of UNSW’s School of Psychiatry and Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) academics, Professor Brian Draper and Professor Julian Trollor, were acknowledged for significant contributions to psychiatry at the recent RANZCP Congress held on Monday, 13th May 2019. Professor Brian Draper, a Chief Investigator on CHeBA’s Sydney Memory & Ageing Study, was awarded the RANZCP’s College Medal of Honour for his outstanding contribution to psychiatry as a clinician and researcher, and for his extensive and continuous service to the RANZCP. Established in… Read More

DR ANNE-NICOLE CASEY How people interact with and perceive one another, and each person’s thoughts and feelings about the quality of those interactions and relationships, can affect physical and mental health and well-being. Social cognitive function, which broadly refers to the way our brain processes social information, is recognised as an important marker of how efficiently our brain processes information in general1. Interestingly, the number of individuals with whom a person interacts frequently is associated with their short-term memory capacity2. Some studies report that having larger… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au CHeBA’s focus on global research priorities, as well as its multi-disciplinary approach across prevention, epidemiology, internet-based intervention and neuropsychiatry, is what inspired Dr Louise Mewton to join CHeBA. Dr Mewton is a UNSW Scientia Fellow with a research focus on the application of innovative methods, techniques and technologies to understand and prevent problematic alcohol use across the lifespan. “I’m currently using large-scale harmonised data from CHeBA’s COSMIC studies to investigate trajectories of alcohol use in older adults… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au CHeBA post-doctoral research fellow Yvonne Leung brings experience in computer programming, experimental design and data analysis to her new role as study co-ordinator on the International Consortium of Centenarian studies of dementia  (ICC-Dementia consortium). “With a background in social work, psychology and interdisciplinary research on human-machine interaction, I look forward to contributing a different skill-set to ICC-Dementia to gain insights into healthy ageing and dementia in centenarian populations,” said Ms Leung. ICC-Dementia combines… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au Co-Leader of CHeBA’s Molecular Biology group at CHeBA, Dr Nady Braidy continued his outstanding research record when he was awarded an Australian Research Council/Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) this month. The award provides funding for Dr Braidy to continue his ground-breaking research in the field of sirtuins. Sirtuins, or “silent information regulators” of gene transcription, are enzymes found in all life. Accumulating evidence suggests that they are key regulators of stress resistance, cell division and repair, and cell death.… Read More

HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au The role of The Dementia Momentum® in raising awareness about the disease inspired Jessica Lo to work for CHeBA, with her primary role being study coordinator on the STROKOG consortium. “The Dementia Momentum® is a great initiative which brings together researchers and the community,” said Ms Lo. “It allows the community to invest in bringing about positive, significant social change. By bringing an increased investment in dementia research, this initiative is allowing researchers to continue to work on finding the risk and protective factors for the… Read More

KATE CROSBIE and HEIDI DOUGLASS | h.douglass@unsw.edu.au Understanding the universal and local risk factors for cognitive decline is what drives Dr Darren Lipnicki, Study Coordinator of the Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium (COSMIC) at CHeBA. “It will be very interesting to see the extent to which different ways in which people live, eat and behave influence their current and future cognitive status,” said Dr Lipnicki.  COSMIC compares research findings from around the world to identify risk and protective factors associated with cognitive decline and dementia. These… Read More