Professor Sharon Naismith, NHMRC Dementia Leadership Fellow, The University of Sydney.

Sharon is a Clinical Neuropsychologist, NHMRC Dementia Leadership Fellow and holds the Leonard P Ullman Chair in Psychology at the Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney. She also heads the Healthy Brain Ageing Program at the Brain and Mind Centre, a one-of-its-kind early intervention research clinic for dementia.

Sharon’s research examines mediators of cognitive decline in older adults 'at risk' of dementia. She has an outstanding strong track record in the areas of cognitive training, depression, cardiovascular disease and sleep-wake disturbance and how these factors relate to impaired cognition and brain degeneration across a range of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's Disease, Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Parkinson's disease.

She uses a range of research methods including detailed clinicial phenotyping, wearable devices, polysomnography, neuroimaging (MRI and PET) and biofluids and she has a strong interest in health services and in using implementation science methods for optimal research translation. Her broader team brings expertise in diet, exercise, clinical trials and e-health interventions.