Dementia
Making dementia preventable and treatable
Florey researchers are recognised as world leaders in dementia research – from defining the natural history of the disease and its pathology, to taking drugs from the laboratory to clinical trials.
Future research in dementia at The Florey will build upon our strong track record to identify new drug targets, improve patient diagnosis, trial new treatments and advance care.
We are working towards a future where dementia is detected early and is effectively managed with new treatments.
The challenge
Focus areas
Developing biomarkers to diagnose dementia
Finding new medications for dementia
Discovering the causes of dementia
Improving the management of dementia
Conditions covered in this mission
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Vascular dementia
- Dementia with Lewy bodies
- Frontotemporal dementia
- Childhood dementia (Niemann-Pick disease type C)
Researcher spotlight
Dr Azadeh Feizpour is a Senior Research Fellow whose research interests span Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, neuroimaging, and blood biomarkers.
Her primary focus is validating newly developed blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease against established neuroimaging gold standards for AD diagnosis, namely amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tau positron emission tomography (PET), by leveraging data from the Australian Dementia Network and the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle studies.
Key projects
Enhanced Dementia Diagnosis Study
Over the last decade, we have shown the promise of fluid and imaging biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease.
The most promising biomarkers will now be tested in a ‘real-world’ study of memory clinics in Australia. We will test their value in impacting diagnosis and patient management for decisions by doctors as they diagnose patients.
The potential outcome of this research will be that patients have access to accurate diagnostics when being assessed for Alzheimer’s disease.
mRNA therapies for dementia
mRNA has the potential to be a solution for several types of dementia diseases.
Within the Florey’s Dementia Mission there are several groups who have a particular focus on mRNA therapeutics, with different targets and indications. One of the biggest challenges in developing this type of therapy is the delivery of the drug into the brain.
Florey teams are working together to find a range of solutions to overcome this barrier, and effectively deliver the different candidate therapies
Discovering new drug targets
The mechanisms of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease have not yet been established.
By examining a large sample set of post-mortem case material and parallel detailed cellular investigations we have developed in understandings of the role of the cell death modality, ferroptosis, in Alzheimer’s disease.
New drug targets and candidate therapeutics are now being developed from these discoveries.
Improving blood flow in the brain to treat dementia
We previously discovered that zinc is an important regulator of blood flow in the brain, and identified a new class of drugs that influence blood flow.
We’re now testing one candidate drug in the setting of cardiopulmonary bypass. This surgery often results in cognitive dysfunction immediately after surgery, and increases risk of dementia over the medium to long term.
We will test if this treatment mitigates this complication of surgery, and if so, the treatment could be applied in other contexts to improve blood flow in the brain.
Mission leads
Group Head
Research Lead
Clinical Lead
Group Head
Executive Lead
Research groups
Latest news in dementia
Source information
- Dementia in Australia, AIHW, Australian Government
- Based on Dementia Australia’s analysis of the following publications: M.Kostas et al, 2016 National Aged Care Workforce Census and Survey – The Aged Care Workforce, 2016, Department of Health, 2017, p.xv, NATSEM, Dementia Prevalence in Australia, Dementia Australia, 2018, Alzheimer’s Disease International and Jarolinska Institutet, Global estimates of informal care, Alzheimer’s Disease International, 2018, p.8, Access Economics (2010) Caring Places.
