CLINICAL & COGNITIVE RESEARCH TEAM
Lead scientists
Our lead scientists for the clinical & cognitive research stream include:
Paul Maruff is a psychologist whose expertise is in the assessment of cognitive change in individuals with, or at risk of, neurodegenerative disease. He has also contributed to the design, execution, analysis, and communication of cognitive outcome from clinical trials of licensed and experimental medicines that act on the central nervous system, that have been sponsored by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and by academic investigators
Prof Paul Maruff
Dr Jo Robertson is Senior Research Fellow at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne. She is a University of Melbourne PhD, AHPRA-endorsed, practicing senior clinical neuropsychologist who assesses and diagnoses Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases in a complex, culturally and linguistically diverse population comprising patients aged 65 or older with multiple medical and psychiatric comorbidities.
Robertson has worked for 10+ years with the AIBL and ADNeT research groups, renowned for their contribution to the development and validation of Fluid, imaging and cognitive markers for the early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. She coordinates a national screening and trials program via which she manages 6 research teams around Australia who conduct detailed biomarker, cognitive and clinical phenotyping of older Australians with or without dementia and refer suitable candidates to local intervention trials as appropriate. Robertson sits on the scientific management committee of the AIBL study. She has contributed to the validation of CSF and PET biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease, which are now used routinely in research diagnosis, and are envisaged to be incorporated into revised clinical diagnostic criteria as the landscape for disease-modifying therapies evolves. She is closely involved in establishing and delivering upon commercial and academic collaborations with international pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology organisations, and investigator-initiated research projects. She contributes regularly to basic research activities and manuscript preparation. She has consulted for Roche Australia and CogState Ltd with respect to considerations of interventional trial design. Robertson is a Psychology Board of Australia-approved supervisor, involved in supervision of post graduate neuropsychology trainees, junior psychologists, and research students. She is engaged occasionally in print and screen media appearances, presentation of work at domestic and international conferences, peer-reviewing manuscripts for academic publications, and marking academic dissertations.
Dr Jo Robertson