Dominantly Inherited Non-Alzheimer Dementias

Clinical diagnosis for dementia largely identify individuals with advanced disease, at a point where disease modifying therapies will be less effective. In 2014, diagnostic criteria for preclinical Alzheimer’s disease were defined to allow better therapeutic targeting. A similar approach is required for the non-Alzheimer dementias (occurs in more than 50% of dementia patients) of frontotemporal dementia, motor neuron disease and Lewy body diseases including Parkinson’s disease. The Diagnosing Inherited Non-Alzheimer Dementias (DINAD) research group aims to identify preclinical forms of these non-Alzheimer dementias to be able to develop preclinical/early clinical diagnostic criteria for to enable better diagnosis and improvement in treatments.

  • DINAD - Non-Alzheimer’s disease degenerative dementias - identifying prodromal genetic/familial phenotypes and modifying factors, and protein variations involved in progression – Glenda Halliday
  • Translating biomarkers to the beside, a precision medicine approach to clinical trials in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration(FTLD) and Motor Neuron disease (MND) - Matthew Kiernan
  • Defining the overlap between Motor Neuron Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Schizophrenia to Identify Novel Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration – Emma Devenney
  • Eating, Metabolic and Physiological changes in FTD and ALS – Rebekah Ahmed

Meet our Research Group

Professor Glenda Halliday

NHMRC Leadership Fellow & Professor of Neuroscience, USyd

  • Neuropathology
  • Biomarkers
  • Genetics

Professor John Hodges

Honorary Professor, USyd

  • Neuropsychology
  • Behavioural Neurology
  • Dementia

Professor Simon Lewis

Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, USyd

  • Neuroimaging
  • Neurophysiology
  • Clinical Trials

Professor Olivier Piguet

Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, USyd

  • Clinical Psychologist
  • Cognitive Neuroscientist
  • Neuroimaging

Professor Jillian Kril

Emeritus Professor, USyd

  • Neuropathology
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Quantitative Morphology

Associate Professor John Kwok

Principal Research Fellow, USyd

  • Genetics
  • Epigenetics
  • Biomarkers

Professor Victor Villemagne

Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh

  • Molecular Neuroimaging
  • Fluid Biomarkers
  • Neuroimaging Analysis and Interpretation

Professor Matthew Kiernan

Professor of Medicine, Bushell Chair of Neurology, Co-Director of the BMC, USyd

  • Neurologist
  • Neurophysiologist
  • Neurodegeneration

Dr Emma Devenney

NHMRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Senior Lecturer, USyd, Neurologist

  • Clinical Assessment
  • Cognition and Behaviour
  • Neuropshychiatry

Associate Professor Rebekah Ahmed

NHMRC Early Career Fellow, Director of Memory and Cognition Clinic, Usyd and RPAH

  • Dementia
  • Neurodegeneration
  • Physiology

Professor Clement Loy

Director & Neurologist, Westmead Hospital; Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, USyd

  • Neurologist
  • Dementia
  • Genetics

Professor Amy Brodtmann

Stroke and cognitive neurologist, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Clinician-researcher, Florey

  • Cognitive impairment
  • Dementia
  • Brain Imaging

Professor Dominic Rowe

Foundation Professor of Neurology, Macquarie University; Chairman of Macquarie Neurology, and Consultant Neurologist, Macquarie University Hospital.

  • Neurologist
  • Neurodegeneration
  • Genetics

Professor Ian McKeith

Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at Newcastle University

  • Dementia
  • Biomarkers
  • Clinical trials