Dr Xin Huang
PhD

Dr Xin Huang is a research officer of the Neurodegeneration and Neuropathology Group at The Florey. After receiving his undergraduate and masters degrees in medicine, he came to Australia to do research on obesity and neurotransmitter pathways at Wollongong University and Sydney University, successively. After obtaining a doctorate degree in 2008, he worked in the ANZAC Research Institute of the University of Sydney, engaged in research on macro-nutrition and geriatric diseases, and published important results in journals of Obesity and Cell Metabolism.

In 2013, he moved to Melbourne to join the Innate Immunity Laboratory at The Florey and worked with Dr Ben Gu to study the role of innate phagocytosis in multiple sclerosis, age-related macular disease and Alzheimer’s disease. His research led to the discovery of the leukocyte surface biomarkers for detecting preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, which has a major impact on clinical practice by allowing primary care physicians to identify individuals at high risk of having Alzheimer’s disease with a simple blood test. This important work has been published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia journal.