Alzheimer's disease Research Collaborations
Collaboration on specific projects
- With University of Washington (Susan Craft): The role of oestrogen in Alzheimer's disease
- With Tokyo University (Toshihara Suzuki): The structure and function of the amyloid precursor protein in
Alzheimer's disease
- With Wisconsin University Maddison Medical School (Craig Atwood): The role of gonadotropins in the development and
progression of Alzheimer's disease
- University of Adelaide (Michael Lardelli) and Edith Cowan University (Ralph Martins): Truncating
presenilin mutations and their effects of gamma-secretase activity, tau and beta-catenin.
- Edith Cowan University (R Martins, G Verdile & G Hulse) and University of Western Australia (Tae Ji):
The role of gonadotropins in the production of Alzheimer's beta amyloid.
- Edith Cowan University, Western Australian Department of Health, University of Western
Australia and University of Melbourne (headed by Professor Colin Masters) CSIRO Flagship Collaborative
Research Program: Detecting and Preventing Alzheimer's disease: towards diet and lifestyle interventions.
- Edith Cowan University (Ralph Martins & Ian Martin) and University of Western Australia (Nicola Lautenschlager):
Molecular and neuropsychological predictive markers of cognitive decline
- Farber Institute at Thomas Jefferson University (Sam Gandy), New York University (Jorge Ghiso),
Mt Sinai School of Medicine (Joseph D Buxbaum), University of Western Australia and Edith
Cowan University (Ralph Martins): Interdisciplinary approach to Alzheimer drug discovery (NIH (USA) program grant)
- Collaboration has been ongoing for the last 11 years with Professor Sam Gandy from Farber Institute for Neurosciences at
Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia into an interdisciplinary approach to Alzheimer Drug discovery.
- The collaboration with Professor Sam Gandy has resulted in his visit in 2000 to the University of Western Australia as the
Raine Visiting Professor and several joint publications and the subsequent 4 month (April-July 2003) visit to Professor Gandy's
Farber Institute by Professor Ralph Martins to further progress our ongoing collaborative partnership.
- With National University of Singapore (Markus Wenk and RH Yang): Lipodomics of neuronal membranes - Identification of
lipids involved in neurosecretion and neurodegenerative diseases
- With University of Toronto (Peter Hyslop and Paul Fraser): identifying genetic risk factors in Alzheimer's disease.
This collaboration has involved exchange of students and staff between the University of Western Australia and the American and
Canadian institutes.
- Professor Judit Miklossy from the University Institute of Pathology, University of
Lausanne in Switzerland and latterly from Kinsmen Laborotory of Neurological Research, University of British
Columbia has supplied 200 brain samples from post-mortem confirmed Alzheimer's disease cases for biochemical and genetic
studies. This collaboration has resulted in several publications.
- With University of Kentucky (D. Allan Butterfield): studying oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease. In 2007, one
of our PhD students spent 6 months with Professor Butterfield investigating the protective effects of apoE isoforms on Abeta
induced oxidative stress in cell culture.
Collaborative research centres
- Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's disease Research and Care: Edith Cowan
University, Australian Neuromuscular Research Institute, Anglican Homes Inc, Sir James McCusker Training Foundation, Hall and Prior
Aged Care Group, Hollywood Private Hospital, The McCusker Foundation for Alzheimer's disease Research and the University of Western
Australia. Received Centres of Excellence in Science and Innovation Program Award funding of $1.3 million from the Western Australian
State Government in 2005 and $2.6 million from the participating universities.
- Cooperative Research Centre for Mental Health
- Dementia Collaborative Research Centres on Prevention, Early Intervention and Risk Reduction: grant funded by Australian Government Department
of Health & Ageing comprising Australian National University, University of Melbourne, Alzheimer's Australia, Edith Cowan
University and University of Queensland.
Ongoing collaborations
- Stanford University (Joachim Hallmayer): to identify genetic and molecular risk factors in neurodegenerative
diseases. This collaboration has resulted in several papers.
- Universitat München (Hans Forstl) in Germany and University of Western Australia (Nicola
Lautenschlager): identification of biomarkers for cognitive decline in subjective memory complainers
- University of Newcastle (Elizabeth Milward): iron related genes and neurodegenerative disorders
Ongoing collaboration has also been established with the three major research groups working on Alzheimer's disease in Australia at the
University of Melbourne (Colin Masters), the Garvan Institute in Sydney (Peter Schofield) and the
Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute in Sydney (Tony Broe).
McCUSKER