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AnnualNewsletterDecember2015
FRONTIERTeam2015
FrontRow:DavidFoxe,AliceZhen,AustinLee,NadineEyre,EmmaMcCormack
SecondRow:SherryChen,SarahHomewood,NadeneDermody,CynthiaMurray,JamesBurrell,JohnHodges,OlivierPiguet,RamonLandin-Romero,Stephanie
Wong,LaurenBartley,FionaKumfor
ThirdRow:VanessaZeleny,RosiHutchings,TimVanLangenhove,NaomiDaveson,CassandraKaizik,AkiraMidorikawa
Missing:MuireannIrish,CristianLeyton,NicholasCordato,RebekahAhmed,EmmaDevenney,SicongTu
HelloandGoodbye!Wewelcomedanumberofnewfaces:DrRamonLandin-Romero(postdoctoralfellow),CynthiaMurrayandVanessaZeleny(ResearchAssistants),EmmaMcCormack(ResearchCoordinator),RosiHutchingsandSherryChen(PhDstudents),AustinLee,NadineEyreandAliceZhen(undergraduatestudents)joinedusin2015.WesaidgoodbyethisyeartoClaireO’CallaghanandLeoneChare,whosuccessfullycompletedtheirPhDs,andtoresearchassistantsEmmaFlanaganandLucieBarhon.InternationalvisitorsthisyearincludedProfAkiraMidorikawa(ChuoUniversity,Japan),DrTimVanLangenhove(AntwerpUniversity,Belgium),DrPhillipFletcher(UCL,UK),DrSharonSavage(UniversityofExeter,UK),ProfMasudHusain(Oxford,UK),DrJonathanRohrer(UCL,UK),DrEneidaMioshi(Cambridge,UK),ProfRoyKessels(DondersUniversity,Holland)andstudentsfromHollandandItaly.
Congratulations!Awards:JohnHodgesreceivedtheprestigiousBengtWinbladLifetimeAchievementAwardinAlzheimer’sDiseaseResearchforhisworkincognitioninneuro-degenerativeconditions.MuireannIrishreceivedtheL’Oreal-UNESCOAustraliaandNewZealandForWomeninSciencefellowship.Thisprestigiousfellowshipisawardedtowomenwhohaveshownscientificexcellence.OlivierPiguetwasawardedDoctorateHonorisCausafromFavaloroUniversity,Argentina,forhisworkinclinicalneuroscience.FionaKumforwonthe2015PaxinosPrizeforbestscientificpaperbyapostdoctoralresearcheratNeuRA.RebekahAhmedandClaireO’CallaghanreceivedtheDean’sListawardfromUNSWMedicine.EmmaDevenneywasawardedtheTowPrizeatthePrinceofWalesHospitalCampusConference,andSicongTureceivedtheStudentResearchAwardattheInternationalNeuropsychologicalConferenceinSydney.
Funding:JohnHodgesandOlivierPiguetareco-investigatorsonasuccessful5-yearDementiaResearchTeamGrantfundedbytheNationalHealthandMedicalResearchCouncil(NHMRC)worth$6,5M.OlivierPiguetwasawardedaprestigious5-yearNHMRCSeniorResearchFellowship.FionaKumforandCristianLeytoneachreceiveda4-yearNHMRC-ARCDementiaResearchDevelopmentFellowships.
ThankYou!ProfJohnHodges,A/ProfOlivierPiguet,andtheFRONTIERteamwouldliketothankalltheparticipantsandtheirfamiliesfortheircontinuingsupportinourresearchprogrammethisyear.Yourgeneroustimecommitmentandhelpwithourprojectsisanintegralparttoourongoingsuccess.
BarkerStreet,RandwickNSW2031Phone:0293991734Email:[email protected]:www.neura.edu.au/FRONTIER
ResearchNews
FRONTIERwelcomed81newparticipantsinourresearchthisyear,andwelcomedbackmanyfamiliesforreviewvisits.Ourresearchonfrontotemporaldementiaandrelateddisorderscontinues.Somerecentresearchprojectsandfindingsaredescribedbelow.
DrJamesBurrellisinvestigatinglanguagedeficitsinmotorneuronediseaseandisstudyinghowclinicalsymptomsarerelatedtobrainpathology.Heisalsoinvestigatinghowvision,visualmemory,andvisuospatialfunctioncanimprovethediagnosisofunusualdementiapresentations.
DrMuireannIrishcontinuestoexplorehowmemoryandsocialcognitionareaffectedindementia.Herresearchhasuncoveredthebrainregionsassociatedwithprospectivememory(orthinkingaboutthefuture)deficitsinfrontotemporaldementia.Theseresultsopenthedoortointerventionstostructurethedailylifeofaffectedindividuals.
DrFionaKumforcontinuestoinvestigatesocialskillsindementia.Recently,sheshowedthatsomepeoplewithfrontotemporaldementiahavedifficultyrecognisingfaces.Fionaisalsoinvestigatinghowdifferentsymptomsemergeoverthediseasecourse.Thisresearchwillhelpusunderstandthetypesofsupportpatientsandfamiliesneedovertime.
DrCristianLeytoncontinueshisresearchonlanguagedeficitsinAlzheimer’sdisease.HeshowedthatAlzheimer’sdiseaseresultinvariablelanguagechanges,whichareexplainedbythelocationofbrainatrophy.Intheupcomingyear,hewillinvestigatehowpathologyprogressesandhowitaffectspatients’languageperformancewithdiseaseprogression.
DrRamonLandin-Romerowaspreviouslyinvestigatingstructuralandfunctionalbrainchangesinpsychiatricconditions.SincejoiningFRONTIER,hehasappliedhisskillstounderstandingthebrainchangesinAlzheimer'sdiseaseandfrontotemporaldementiaovertime.
DrRebekahAhmedisinvestigatingtheeatingandmetabolicabnormalitiesindementiaandmotorneurondisease.Eatingchanges(bingeeating,sweetpreferences)arecommoninthebehaviouralvariantoffrontotemporaldementia.Thesepatientsalsoshowelevatedcholesterolandinsulinlevels,whichmayaffecttheirhealthanddiseaseprogression.
DrTimVanLangenhoveisstudyingbehaviourchangesinthelanguagepresentationsofdementia.Heshowedthatsuchchangesbecomemorecommonwithdiseaseprogression,particularlyinsemanticdementia.Apathyandlossofempathyarealsofoundinasubsetofpatientswhohaveanon-fluentlanguagedisturbance.
RosiHutchingsisinvestigatingfaceperceptioninFTD.Byunderstandinghowweprocessinformationsuchasidentityandemotionfromtheface,thisresearchwillclarifysomeoftheprocessesunderlyingsocialcognitioninfrontotemporaldementia.
ResearchNewsCont’d
StephanieWonghasbeenexploringlearningandmemoryprocessesindementiaandwhetherself-orsocially-relevantinformationisremembereddifferentlytootherinformation.Thesefindingswillhelpunderstandwhethercertaintypesofmemoriesaremoreresistant,andhowthiscanbenefitmanagementstrategiesindementia.
LaurenBartleymanagesthebloodandDNAsamplescollectedatFRONTIER,andourbraindonorprogram.Ourhopeisthattheanalysisoftheproteinswithinthebloodwillrevealtheunderlyingcausesofaperson’sillness.Ifsuccessful,thesewillbecomevaluablediagnostictoolstohelpclinicianswiththemanagementofthesedisorders.
OtherActivities
Wehavecommencedtheopen-labelextensiontotheinternationalPhaseIIIdrugtrial,TauRx,forbehavioural-variantFTD.Recruitedparticipantshaveregularvisitsandtestingwithusforanother12months.In2016,wehopetoseeresultsforthefirsttrialwecommencedlastyear.ThisresearchisanimportantsteptowardsthedevelopmentoftreatmentsinthefightagainstFTD.
ThisyearwerecognisedWorldFTDAwarenessweek(Oct5-9),hostinganumberofeventsandpromotingawarenessthroughsocialmedia.TheMosmanGalleryinSydneysupportedusinhostinganafternoonteaforindividualswithFTDandtheirfamilies,withanopportunitytoviewtheexhibition‘AnUnendingShadow’byAnnandSophieCape.TheCapeshavebeeninvolvedinourresearchprogram.Wealsoorganisedascreeningofthedocumentary‘LooksLikeLaury’followedbyaQ&Asession,whichwasopentothepublic.
OurannualfrontotemporaldementiaInformationandSupportDayforFamilieswillreturntoitsusualformatin2016.WeplantoholdthisdayinJune,hereatNeuRA,sostaytunedformoredetails.
ConferencePresentationsandPublications
Ourresearchfindingshavebeenpresentedatmanyscientificconferences,includingtheWorldCongressofNeurology(Santiago,Chile),theInternationalNeuropsychologicalSocietyConference(Sydney),andtheAsiaPacificFTD-MNDMeeting(Sydney),whichwehelpedorganise.
FRONTIERwasagainveryprolificin2015.Wehavepublishedover30peer-reviewedarticlesininternationalscientificjournals,includinginprestigiousjournalssuchasTheLancet,Brain,Neurology,andJAMANeurology,aswellasanumberofbookchapters.
