Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease Laboratory
Head of laboratory
Research highlights and societal impact
The Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease Laboratory has had a very successful year as demonstrated by grant acquisition, invitation to speak at the most prestigious international conferences (such as: Professor Götz, Plenary Lecture 2009, International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD), the world's leading forum on dementia research), and many publications in high impact journals.
Among these publications is a highly acclaimed review article on animal models of Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia that was published in Nature Reviews Neurosciences. A second highlight is a research article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) providing insight into how parkinsonism is caused in frontotemporal dementia. Finally, in collaboration with Dr. Eckert from the University of Basel, a role was revealed for a special form of Aβ amyloid in damaging mitochondria, the powerhouses of our cells. This work in the Journal of Molecular Medicine was selected for the Faculty of 1000 Biology.
In June 2008, the Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease Laboratory hosted the highly attended 2nd A+PD Symposium, with world-class researchers from both Australia and overseas presenting their latest breakthroughs. The success of this symposium encouraged the Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease Laboratory to organise the 3rd A+PD Symposium which will take place in May 2009. Together, this reflects the outstanding reputation of the Laboratory.