Meet the Team
Investigators
Yen Ying Lim
Professor Yen Ying Lim is the Lead Investigator of the Healthy Brain Hub. She is also an NHMRC Emerging Leadership (EL2) fellow, Director of the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Optimal Ageing, and head of the Cognitive Ageing & Dementia Laboratory at Monash University. She is committed to improving the dementia diagnosis pathway in Australia, and interested in the influence of genetic, biological, and lifestyle risk factors on memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease progression.
Paul Maruff
Professor Paul Maruff is a Professor in Neuroscience at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and in Psychology at Monash University, Melbourne Australia. He is also the Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder of Cogstate Ltd, which plays a major role in the assessment of Alzheimer’s disease globally.
Sharon Naismith
Professor Sharon Naismith is a Clinical Neuropsychologist, NHMRC Dementia Leadership Fellow and holds the Leonard P Ullman Chair in Psychology at the Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney. She also leads the Healthy Brain Ageing Program at the Brain and Mind Centre.
Jane Alty
Associate Professor Jane Alty is a Neurology clinician, researcher and educator. Her work aims to transform the health of adults in Tasmania and globally - through research to detect the critical earliest stages of degenerative brain disorders and through teaching to improve health literacy and clinical care.
Darshini Ayton
Associate Professor Darshini Ayton is Deputy Head of the Health and Social Care Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, and an NHMRC emerging leader fellow. Darsh leads the ageing and health services research work for HSCU, and works extensively with multiple industry, health service and aged care provider partners.
Laura Bird
Dr Laura Bird is a Research Fellow at Monash University and a clinical psychology registrar. Her research and clinical expertise span the assessment of cognitive and emotional difficulties in individuals with neurological conditions such as epilepsy and stroke. Dr Bird is also interested in digital assessment and interventions to improve health, with a passion for understanding the brain benefits of playing and listening to music.
Rachel Buckley
Associate Professor Rachel Buckley is a cognitive neuroscientist whose research interests focus on harmonizing multiple cohorts to understand risk and resilience in preclinical Alzheimer's disease, as well as sex differences in preclinical Alzheimer's Disease. She is an Alzheimer's Association Research, and holds an NIH K99/R00 award.
Scott Ayton
Professor Scott Ayton is an NHMRC Leadership Fellow, Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Enhanced Dementia Diagnosis, and head of the Dementia Mission at the Florey Institute. Prof. Ayton pursues both laboratory and clinical research in neurodegenerative diseases to discover the underlying causes of these diseases, to develop better diagnostics, and to intervene with new therapeutics.
Inga Mehrani
Dr. Inga Mehrani is the Project Manager for the Australian Memory Clinics Network, part of the NHMRC-funded Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT). She is a trained Speech Pathologist and her research focuses on improving diagnosis and treatment for stroke-induced and neurodegenerative language impairments.
Velandai Srikanth
Professor Srikanth is a geriatrician and specialist in dementia care at Peninsula Health. He is Director of the National Centre for Healthy Ageing (ncha.org.au) and Director of Research at Peninsula Health.
Susannah Ahern
Professor Susannah Ahern (MBBS (Hons), MBA, FRACMA, PhD) is a medical administrator and academic in health services research and management at Monash University. She heads the Clinical Outcomes Reporting and Research Program, and is the Monash Academic Lead for the ADNeT Dementia Registry.
Rosita Shishegar
Dr Rosita Shishegar is a Research Scientist in CSIRO's Neuroimaging team. Her expertise in the area of data sciences and neuroimaging has been applied to map disease progression in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington’s disease and Friedreich's ataxia.
Jurgen Mejan Fripp
Dr Jurgen Fripp leads the CSIRO's Image Analysis team at the Australian eHealth Research Centre. He leads the development of image analysis algorithms for a range of neuroimaging modalities, which have now been applied to support large clinical studies of Alzheimer's disease.
HBH Team
Lisa Bransby
Dr. Lisa Bransby is the Research and Strategy Manager of the Cognitive Ageing & Dementia Laboratory at Monash University. She has research interests and expertise in modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease dementia in middle-aged and older adults and the use of digital technologies to measure cognition as well as to increase access to research studies and brain health assessments.
Hannah Cummins
Hannah Cummins is a Research Data Analyst at Monash University. Hannah's research interests are in genetic and modifiable lifestyle risk factors for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. She is particularly passionate about the development of technological processes to effectively communicate health and lifestyle information, empowering consumers to take proactive steps to promote their long-term well-being.
Peter Beirouty
Peter Beirouty is a research officer working on the Healthy Brain Hub, the Healthy Brain Project and the BetterBrains Trial. His research interests include biomarkers in diagnosis for cognitive decline and leveraging technology to improve detection and intervention in cognitive decline.
Sunny Huang
Sunny Huang is a research assistant and Mandarin-speaking Brain Health Assessor. She brings a wealth of prior experience in healthcare, research, disability support, and working with people living with dementia. Her research interests include the biopsychosocial aspects of ageing, dementia care, sleep and mental health, and community health initiatives.
Luana Rigazzi
Luana Rigazzi is an Italian-speaking Brain Health Assessor for The Healthy Brain Hub. She has studied in both Italy and Australia and has a keen interest in Nutrition and well-being.
Michael Williamson
Michael Williamson is a PhD candidate in Clinical Neuropsychology. His research is investigating the use of internet-based cognitive assessment methods, such as telehealth and computerised testing, and their potential role in the diagnosing of early-stage Alzheimer’s Disease.
Nicole Droutsis
Nicole Droutsis is a Greek-speaking Brain Health Assessor with The Healthy Brain Hub. She studied Arts/Commerce, and Law at Monash and has a strong passion for languages, being fluent in Greek and Indonesian. She is a Greek language educator, brings a unique blend of skills and insights, ensuring clear and culturally sensitive communication in dementia care.
Yasoja Liyanaarachchige
Yasoja is a provisional psychologist and research officer with experience across healthcare, research, and applied mental health settings. Her research interests include dementia and brain health, with a focus on cognitive decline, modifiable risk factors, biopsychosocial functioning, and mental health interventions.
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