Meet the OATS Online Team

Scientia Professor Perminder Sachdev AM, MD, PhD, FRANZCP, FAAHMS is a neuropsychiatrist and clinical head of the Neuropsychiatric Institute, at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney. He leads a program of research in brain ageing and dementia as co-director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at UNSW Sydney. Professor Sachdev has led OATS from its inception in 2007, to date securing three federal grants to allow the commencement and continuation of the study. He is responsible for the overall recruitment, engagement, and dissemination strategies and for delivering the outcomes.

Professor Sachdev has led several other internationally influential and prominent longitudinal studies of ageing, the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study, the Sydney Centenarian Study, and the Sydney Stroke Study. Like OATS, these studies focus on biomarkers, risk and protective factors and early diagnosis of dementia. He also leads three international consortia of longitudinal cohort studies of ageing and cognitive decline: COSMIC, a consortium of longitudinal studies of cognitive ageing around the world (n=42, participants >120,000), STROKOG, a consortium of studies of post-stroke cognitive disorders (n=26, participants >18,000), and ICC-Dementia (n=17,participants >5000).

Dr Vibeke Catts is the Study Coordinator of the Older Australian Twins Study. Vibeke joined the team in 2017 and is responsible for the day-to-day coordination of the study. This involves providing direction to staff members and supervising students, liaising with services, such as Twins Research Australia, blood pathology services and brain (PET and MRI) scanning facilities. Vibeke also ensures that changes to our protocol is documented and has appropriate approvals from the Human Research Ethics Committee, that data collection occurs in accordance with our protocol, and analysis ready data files are managed and provided to the OATS Team and collaborators as appropriate. She facilitates liaison between investigators and keeps them abreast of progress and difficulties encountered. Vibeke enjoys mentoring and fostering junior staff and students. It is her passion to see medical research findings translate to improved health and wellbeing of society. 

Prior to joining CHeBA, Dr Catts held a Post-Doctoral appointment at Neuroscience Research Australia, where she researched molecular and cellular pathology in blood and brain from individuals with schizophrenia.  In her role with OATS, she has expanded this expertise in molecular neurobiology of schizophrenia into neurodegeneration associated with ageing.

Dr Amanda Selwood is a Research Assistant working for the Older Australian Twins Study (OATS). 

Before joining OATS, Dr Selwood worked in health services research at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI) at Macquarie University and in memory research at the National Insitute for Experimental Arts (NIEA) at UNSW Art & Design. She has a PhD in Human Cognition and Brain Science from Macquarie University, focusing on collaborative remembering and close relationships in twins and siblings.

Dr Teresa Lee is a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychiatry, UNSW and co-leader of the Neuropsychology Group at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA). She is also a Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist at the Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital. Her research interests include heritability, and the genetic (G) and environmental (E) influences in the neuropsychological functions in older adults. Dr Lee is the managing Neuropsychologist for the neuropsychology component of CHeBA’s Older Australian Twins Study (OATS), a comprehensive three-centre study which examines the G and E contributions to cognitive ageing and dementia.

Professor Julian Trollor is the inaugural Chair of Intellectual Disability Mental Health at UNSW Sydney. He also heads the Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry within the School of Psychiatry at UNSW. He is a clinician and academic with a background in neuropsychiatry.

Julian leads national initiatives in health care for people with intellectual and developmental disability. He works with Commonwealth and State Government Departments to improve health services for people with an intellectual or developmental disability. He sits on multiple Commonwealth and State Government Committees and provides advice to regulatory bodies in his area of expertise. Julian also develops and delivers courses in mental health and intellectual disability.

Julian is involved in diverse research programs that examine the health inequalities experienced by people with intellectual or developmental disability and design solutions to the issues arising. He is passionate about inclusive research practices and enjoys rich interdisciplinary collaborations.

Juan Carlo San Jose is a Data Management Officer for the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA). With a background in information technology, Juan Carlo is a web developer and IT consultant for OATS Online. The role involves working closely with CheBA researchers and external parties on enabling the study requirements of the platform to meet the needs of delivery and data collection securely and effectively.

Along with OATS, Juan Carlo is also a developer for the Maintain Your Brain (MYB) study at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, a large online clinical study that aims to reduce the risk for future Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia.

Dr Karen Mather's main research focus is to gain a better understanding of the genetic and environmental factors involved in ageing, longevity and age-related disease, including dementia. The genetic factors that may be involved include variation at the nucleotide level, epigenetic variation, epistasis and gene-environmental interactions. Current research is being undertaken using large population cohorts of older Australians and examining the genetic variation and environmental factors associated with ageing phenotypes. The establishment of collaborations with national and international investigators and consortia is enabling investigation of these age-related questions on a larger scale.

Dr Anbupalam Thalamuthu is a Research Fellow working within CHeBA’s Genetics & Epigenomics Group. Dr Thalamuthu’s research focus is on the analysis of large datasets, such as those belonging to CHeBA’s longitudinal studies and age-related phenotypes. He obtained his PhD in Statistics at the University of Madras, Chennai. One of Dr Thalamuthu’s favourite hobbies is listening to Tamil music which engages him in novel ways outside of his research.

Scientia Professor Henry Brodaty AO MB BS MD DSc FRACP FRANZCP, FAHMS is a researcher, clinician, policy advisor and strong advocate for people with dementia and their carers.

At UNSW Sydney, Australia, he is Scientia Professor of Ageing and Mental Health, Co-Director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, holds the Montefiore Chair of Healthy Brain Ageing and is the Director of the Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration. As well as being a prolific researcher, he is a senior psychogeriatrician within Aged Care Psychiatry and Head of the Memory Disorders Clinic at Prince of Wales Hospital.

Professor Brodaty is the immediate past President of the International Psychogeriatric Association.  He is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel for NHMRC National Institute for Dementia Care and has served on several New South Wales and Commonwealth committees related to ageing and dementia. Henry is also the past chairman of Alzheimer's Disease International, representing over 100 national Alzheimer Associations and past president of Alzheimer's Australia (now Dementia Australia) and Alzheimer's Australia (NSW).

Publishing over 600 papers and book chapters, Henry is on the editorial board of several journals and has been the recipient of a number of awards. Henry's lifetime achievements have been recognized by becoming an officer of the Order of Australia in 2000 and in June 2016 as recipient of the international Ryman Prize for the world’s best development, advance or achievement that enhances quality of life for older people.