The Future of Dementia Prevention, Research and Care.
SPEAKERS
Professor Craig Ritchie
Founder and CEO of Scottish Brain Sciences and Professor of Brain Health and Neurodegenerative Medicine at the University of St Andrews
​
Professor Ritchie is the Founder and CEO of Scottish Brain Sciences and Professor of Brain Health and Neurodegenerative Medicine at the University of St Andrews, having moved from his role as Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Mental Health at Imperial College London in October 2014. He completed his PhD at UCL through an MRC Health Services Research Fellowship and was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Old Age Psychiatry at Imperial College London in 2007. He has also served as R&D Director at West London Mental Health Trust from 2010-14 and Deputy Director of the London Northwest NIHR Clinical Research Network. In 2014 he was appointed as Chair in Psychiatry of Ageing at the University of Edinburgh. In 2015 he established the Centre for Dementia Prevention and that year took on the academic leadership role of the EPAD (European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia) Programme.
Dr Elie Matar
Consultant Neurologist and Sleep Physician | Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW 2050
Horizon Fellow | NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow | Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
Visiting Research Fellow | Department of Clinical and Movement Neurosciences, University College London, London
​
Dr Elie Matar is a consultant neurologist and dual-trained sleep physician based at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and a translational clinician-scientist supported by an NHMRC Emerging Leadership grant and Horizon Fellowship at the University of Sydney. He has subspecialty expertise in movement disorders and cognitive neurology developed through an Endeavour research fellowship at the University of Cambridge UK and dedicated clinical fellowships and visitorships at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London UK and the Mayo Clinic Rochester, US and. He currently leads a translational and multidisciplinary program of research investigating the phenomenology, pathophysiology, and progression of symptoms of synuclein-based diseases including idiopathic REM sleep behaviour disorder, Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia on which he is considered a leading authority. His most recent interests include the interrelationship between sleep and the manifestation and progression of disabling symptoms of neurodegeneration. Despite an early career stage, he has secured > $5M of grant funding supporting methods spanning neuroimaging, sleep neurophysiology, neuropathology, actigraphy, clinical phenotyping and clinical trials.
.jpg)
Dr Pratishtha Chatterjee
Dementia Australia Royce Simmons Foundation Mid-Career Research Fellow at The Florey, University of Melbourne
​
Dr Pratishtha Chatterjee is a Dementia Australia Royce Simmons Foundation Mid-Career Research Fellow at The Florey, University of Melbourne. She was awarded her PhD for work on blood biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease in 2015 at the University of Western Australia. She completed her first post-doc at Macquarie University in 2023 following which she moved to The Florey. Pratishtha also holds Honorary Senior Research Fellow positions at Macquarie and Monash Universities. Her research focusses on diagnostic, prognostic and longitudinal monitoring biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Her research has been enriched through national and international collaborations, leveraging highly regarded and well-characterized cohorts. Through her research, she aims to improve patient management strategies in clinical practice, as well as improve design of clinical trials facilitating the development of disease modifying therapies. In 2024, she received the Dementia Advocates’ Award from Dementia Australia, highlighting the recognition of her research by those advocating for individuals living with dementia.
.jpeg)
Professor Nancy Ip
President, The Morningside Professor of Life Science
Director, Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (HKCeND)
​
Nancy Ip is the President of The Hong Kong University of Science and Techology (HKUST) and the Morningside Professor of Life Science. Taking office in October 2022, she is the first female president of a publicly funded university in Hong Kong.
Ip received her PhD degree in Pharmacology from Harvard University, after which she held the position of Senior Staff Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in New York. Since joining HKUST in 1993, she has served as the Vice-President for Research and Development, Dean of Science, and Head of the Department of Biochemistry.
Ip is world-renowned for her significant contributions to the field of neuroscience. Her major research interests are in understanding the complex mechanisms that underlie proper brain functions, as well as drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Her outstanding research has resulted in over 335 scientific papers and holds 70 patents. A distinguished neuroscientist, Ip was elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, among other academies, and is a recipient of numerous awards, including the National Natural Science Awards and the L’OREAL-UNESCO for Women in Science Award.
Professor Cliff Abraham
Co-Director, Brain Research NZ - Ranghau Roro Aotearoa
University of Otago
​
Distinguished Professor Cliff Abraham completed his PhD in neuroscience at the University of Florida, and moved to New Zealand in 1981 as a postdoctoral fellow. He is now a Professor in Psychology at the University of Otago, and co-Lead of the national network the Aotearoa Brain Project-Kaupapa Roro o Aotearoa. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and has been awarded the University of Otago’s Distinguished Research Medal and the Marsden Medal by the NZ Association of Scientists. Professor Abraham’s research focuses on the synaptic plasticity and metaplasticity mechanisms of learning and memory in animal models, plus their disruption and therapeutic approaches in models of neurological disorders. Studies in people have focused on prognostic blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease.
Further details on the other speakers will be forthcoming
%20(6).png)