Healthy Brain Ageing Program, University of Sydney

We're back from ADRF 2026, and what a three days it was 🧠

The Australian Dementia Research Forum in Sydney brought together some of the brightest minds in dementia research, and we were proud to have our HBA team presenting across the program.

Here's a snapshot of what our team shared:

🏆 Johannes made the case for implementing new treatments at the forum's inaugural Great Allocate and took home an Early Career Researcher Award. Incredibly well deserved!

🔬 Rachael presented two talks on neuroinflammatory markers sTREM2 and YKL-40 in Alzheimer's disease pathology, including a systematic review & meta-analysis and a deep dive into stage-dependent neuroinflammation across the Alzheimer's continuum.

🧩 Lisa explored multimodal approaches to differentiating memory impairment in cognitively heterogeneous older adults.

🩸 Nicole presented research on a blood–brain–memory pathway, examining how plasma NfL and pTau217 relate to memory via the CA1 region in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's.

💤 Clara shared findings from a pilot study on the feasibility of ambulatory sleep devices in older adults with cognitive concerns.

We left energised by the conversations, connections, and ideas sparked across the three days. So proud of this team and the important work they're doing.

Huge congratulations to our Research Fellow, Dr Johannes Michaelian, on receiving the Baillieu Myer AC Early Career Researcher Award at the Australian Dementia Research Forum in Sydney! 🥇🎉

We are so incredibly proud to see your hard work and dedication recognised on such a prestigious stage!

We’re excited to be attending the Australian Dementia Research Forum (ADRF) 2026 in Sydney 🧠

Over three days, ADRF brings together researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and the community to share the latest advances in dementia research, prevention, diagnosis, and care.
Our team will be presenting across the program, showcasing new work in neuroinflammation, biomarkers, memory impairment, and sleep research in older adults at risk of cognitive decline.

If you’re attending, come and say hello 👋
📍 Hyatt Regency Sydney
📅 1–3 June 2026

We were delighted to attend the latest BMC AD Bi-monthly Seminar Series, featuring Professor Jennifer Gamble, who presented her talk on “Targeting the vasculature as a new therapeutic approach for Alzheimer’s.”

The seminar highlighted the critical importance of vascular health for maintaining brain health. A key focus was the role of VE-cadherin as a potential therapeutic target to help restore damaged blood vessels. This approach may support amyloid clearance, offering promising avenues to improve cognition and reduce dementia risk.

This work reinforces the importance of considering the vascular system in neurodegenerative disease and highlights the value of innovative, cross-disciplinary approaches in Alzheimer’s research.

We look forward to seeing how this promising line of research evolves.

✨ Exciting news!

We’re launching a new study focused on menopause and brain health! An important and often overlooked area in ageing research.

This initiative aims to better understand how menopause impacts memory, sleep, mood, workplace function, and overall brain health, while also providing participants with personalised feedback on their brain and sleep.

We are currently looking for women aged 40–55 years who are experiencing perimenopause or have recently gone through menopause to take part.

🧠 This is an exciting step towards advancing women’s health and improving our understanding of brain ageing.

If you or someone you know may be interested, please feel free to reach out or share!

Great to see our postdocs Dr Zoe Menczel Schrire and Dr Aaron Lam out in the community last week, representing the HBA team at the Men’s Chat Group run by Holdsworth Community and Woollahra Life in Double Bay 👏

They spoke about healthy brain ageing and the importance of sleep, sharing insights from our work at the Healthy Brain Ageing Clinic and the NeuroMusic trial. It was a great opportunity to translate research into real-world conversations and hear directly from the community.

A big thank you to the group for such a warm welcome and engaging discussion. We always learn just as much as we share.

hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

🎵🧠 Exciting milestone for the NeuroMusic Trial!

This week we officially started Wave 8 of the NeuroMusic trial, and we are thrilled to share that we have now randomised 200 participants into the study 👏👏

Reaching this milestone is incredibly exciting for our team. The NeuroMusic trial explores how music-making may support brain health and cognition in older adults with memory difficulties.

We are especially excited to see how our participants are engaging with and enjoying the program as the trial progresses. Their enthusiasm and dedication make this research possible.

A huge thank you to everyone involved, our participants, researchers, clinicians, and collaborators, for helping us reach this important step in the study.

Stay tuned as the NeuroMusic trial continues!

🧬 PhD spotlight: Poster presentation at AusUKB 2026!

Huge congratulations to Hamish on presenting his PhD research at the 2nd Australian UK Biobank Research Symposium (AusUKB), hosted at University of Queensland ! 🙌

The symposium brought together leading researchers in genomics, epidemiology, and population health to showcase cutting-edge work using UK Biobank, one of the world’s most powerful health datasets, with data from over half a million participants.

Hamish’s research explored thousands of lifestyle and clinical variables, grouping them into risk domains to better understand what drives Alzheimer’s disease risk and how this may differ depending on genetic background.

We’re so proud to see our PhD students sharing their impactful research. Fantastic job, Hamish! 👏

🎵 We’re recruiting for our NeuroMusic study! 🧠

Our team at the Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney is inviting participants to join the NeuroMusic Collaborative.

This study explores how learning music can support cognition, brain plasticity, and wellbeing in older adults with memory difficulties.

If you, or someone you know, may be interested, please learn more and share with your network:�👉 https://www.sydney.edu.au/brain-mind/about/our-stories/partnerships-and-collaborations/neuromusic-collaborative.html

Thank you for helping us spread the word!

NeuroMusic Collaborative With no cure yet, we're working on a groundbreaking research program to see if we can slow the rate of cognitive decline with music, to prevent dementia.

📢 We’re hiring! Full-time Research Assistant

We’re excited to advertise a full-time Research Assistant position at the Healthy Brain Ageing Clinic, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney.

If you (or someone in your network) is interested in dementia prevention and brain ageing, we’d love to hear from you.

👉 Please apply via the link below and feel free to share!

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4364777203/

University of Sydney hiring Research Assistant (Psychology) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | LinkedIn Posted 3:43:03 AM. Full time fixed-term position until March 2027Opportunity to provide comprehensive research and…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.