Epidemiology

Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) Research - Epidemiology Group
The Epidemiology group is interested in studying the patterns, causes and effects of neurocognitive disorders, in particular dementia, in older populations in Australia and internationally.

Aim

To determine the prevalence and incidence, and risk and protective factors of neurocognitive disorders in older individuals.

 

Methodology

We have established cohorts of older individuals who are being studied longitudinally to determine their cognitive function over time. The main studies that comprise this program are the Sydney Stroke Study (SSS), Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (MAS), the Older Australian Twins Study (OATS) and the Sydney Centenarian Study (SCS). Several analytical strategies are used to examine risk and protective factors. The studies form part of international consortia, such as COSMIC, STROKOG, and ICC-Dementia, so that the analytic epidemiology can be extended internationally. Another important aspect of this work is genetic epidemiology, which uses various approaches including genome-wide association studies and Mendelian randomization methods to examine risk factors for dementia and other neurocognitive disorders.