1. Macquarie University
  2. Research
  3. Research centres, institutes and initiatives
  4. Dementia Research
  5. Our technologies

Core facilities and capabilities

Learn about our platforms and technologies that support our discovery research and therapeutic development.

Drug development portfolio

The teams at the Dementia Research Centre currently have more than 10 different therapeutic development programs at different stage of pre-clinical testing. These include approaches such as:

  • small molecules
  • antibodies
  • gene therapy.

Most of these proprietary molecules and drug targets are based on novel discoveries of disease mechanisms made over the past decade. Our drug development portfolio is managed by the Macquarie University Office of Commercialisation and Innovation.

Contact Professor Lars Ittner at lars.ittner@mq.edu.au to learn more about potential opportunities for:

  • commercialisation
  • partnering
  • licencing.

Gene therapy and viral vector technologies

Supporting both experimental and translational studies.

We operate our own core facility for the production of adeno-associated viruses (AAV).

AAVs are particularly well suited for gene delivery into cells and living organisms, including for gene therapy in humans.

Operating our own AAV core allows immediate access to this cutting-edge technology for all our research teams, accelerating multiple discovery research projects and our gene-therapy pipeline.

Contact Professor Yazi Ke at yazi.ke@mq.edu.au to learn more about the DRC Gene therapy and AAV core.

Stem cell technologies

Including human stem cell–derived models used to study disease mechanisms and support therapeutic development.

Contact Professor Yazi Ke at yazi.ke@mq.edu.au to learn more about the DRC Stem Cell Core.

Extensive genetically engineered disease models

One of the largest collections in Australia.

Contact Professor Lars Ittner at lars.ittner@mq.edu.au to learn more about the DRC Transgenesis Core.

Peptide synthesis and medicinal chemistry capabilities

Providing essential tools for drug development and therapeutic optimisation.

Contact Dr Ole Tietz at ole.tietz@mq.edu.au to learn more about the DRC Peptide Synthesis Core.

We publish studies on a range of issues relevant to dementia See the research our people are involved in Find out more about our research group team members Collaborate with us Donate to our research