Neurosciences

Research interests within neurosciences range from projects that undertake basic, laboratory-based medical research right through to highly translational, patient-centred research in the clinic or community.

A significant area of work involves exploring the normal processes of brain function and how these change in response to ageing and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, motor neuron disease, Parkinson’s disease and glaucoma, to name a few.

Fundamental neurophysiology research complements this by examining the function of the central nervous system and its role in health and disease.

Our neurosurgery research is working towards better treatments for patients with specific neurological conditions in the brain and the spinal cord, as well as novel approaches to neuroimaging.

Other research within the faculty seeks to ensure the delivery of appropriate healthcare and health services to our ageing population, particularly for those living with degenerative neurological diseases or other neurological disorders.

Research centres

Macquarie University Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research

Macquarie Univeristy Dementia Research Centre

Research groups

Neurodegenerative diseases and neuroinflammation

• Causes of and therapies for MND, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases (Prof Dominic Rowe)
• Molecular and cellular basis of neurodegenerative disease (Prof Ian Blair, Dr Kelly Williams, Dr Shu Yang).
• Molecular and cellular neurodegeneration (A/Prof Julie Atkin)
• Neurobiology of neurodegeneration (Prof Roger Chung, Dr Albert Lee, Dr Marco Morsch, Dr Bingyang Shi )
• Neurodegeneration treatment (Dr Angela Laird)
• Neuroinflammation (Prof Gilles Guillemin, Dr Edwin Lim, Dr David Lovejoy)

Alzheimer's disease and dementia research

• Biomarkers and impact of lifestyle factors (Prof Ralph Martins, A/Prof Hamid Sohrabi)
• Disease mechanisms (A/Prof Yazi Ke, Dr Annika van Hummel)
• Disease models (Dr Fabien Delerue)
• Molecular signalling (Dr Arne Ittner, Dr Prita Asih)
• Neuron cell biology (A/Prof Thomas Fath)
• Novel treatments (Prof Lars Ittner, Dr Liming Hou, Dr Carol Au, Dr Janet Van Eersel)
• Peptides (Dr Adam Martin)

Neurophysiology and receptors

• Autonomic and sensory neuroscience (Prof Jacqueline Phillips, Dr Cara Hildreth)
• Molecular pharmacodynamics (Prof Mark Connor, Dr Chris Bladen, Dr Marina Junqueira Santiago)
• Neurobiology of vital systems (A/Prof Ann Goodchild, A/Prof Simon McMullan)

Healthcare related to neurological disorders

• Advanced neurosurgery research (Prof Marcus Stoodley, Dr Sarah Hemley, Dr Lucinda McRobb, Dr Zhenjun Zhao )
• Opthalmology and vision sciences (Prof Stuart Graham, A/Prof Alexander Klistorner, Dr Vivek Gupta)