clinical focus
Race against time
New fellowships awarded in race to cure dementia .
By Conor Burke
Australian dementia research has received a significant boost with the announcement of the inaugural recipients of the ‘ Race Against Dementia – Dementia Australia Research Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship ’ program .
The award comes from Formula 1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart ’ s charity Race Against Dementia and the Dementia Australia Research Foundation . Recipients Dr Adekunle Bademosi from The University of Queensland and Dr Andrew McKinnon from The University of Sydney will each receive an award valued at $ 405,000 over three years .
Both Bademosi and McKinnon will be putting the money to good use to break new ground in dementia research .
Bademosi ’ s work will focus on frontotemporal dementia . Using advanced imaging tools , with resolutions up to 10 million times that of a standard digital camera , he ’ ll try to find out why this type of dementia occurs and his results could help scientists to produce drugs that target it .
“ It ’ s used in a few other areas such as Parkinson ’ s disease research . But at the moment absolutely no one has used it in the context of frontotemporal dementia . And I ’ m very skilled in this . So this is a good opportunity for me to use my skills but in a totally different context which is in the context of the field of frontotemporal dementia ,” Bademosi told Aged Care Insite .
McKinnon ’ s work will look into the link between sleep problems and dementia in later life .
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“ There are already known and recognised modifiable risk factors for dementia like hypertension , like episodes of depression , like Diabetes , et cetera , that are thought to be responsible for around about a third of Dementia cases worldwide ,” McKinnon told Aged Care Insite .
“ But evidence has been collecting for about the last decade or so that sleep disturbances might also be a contributor to Dementia onset . But it ’ s not yet being recognised formally as a modifiable risk factor because a lot of the studies have been cross-sectional or they ’ ve been small studies . So what we ’ re trying to do with this one is collect longitudinal data two years apart , using both actigraphy and oximetry , essentially measuring common types of sleep disturbances and also events related to sleep apnoea .”
As well as being a fantastic boost for dementia research , this fellowship means a great deal to both Bademosi and McKinnon personally . Having financial and job security for the next three years is a massive boon for any academic , especially during a pandemic .
“ When I got the news it was like the highlight of 2020 for me and that ’ s the year we had COVID . And indeed things have been very difficult in the research area because there are less grants and more people looking for the same grants . So this indeed has come at the right time for me . I can actually get some work done and not be looking for money and actually spend that time productively in asking these key questions ,” says Bademosi .
“ It ’ s up to us to
find a solution to actually make this work . And that ’ s my passion .
Similarly for McKinnon , the stress relief that comes with the fellowship is great , as is the chance to work with Jackie Stewart ’ s charity and use the platform that comes with it to highlight dementia research .
“ It was fantastic news . I finished my PhD in 2017 , so I ’ d been a Postdoctoral Fellow on other people ’ s projects for two or three years . And so it was great to finally be able to get my own fellowship , too . It ’ s obviously very crucial at this early career stage . It is also such an interesting and important fellowship ,” he says .
“ Something particularly intriguing about this fellowship , and I became aware of throughout the application process , it ’ s truly a career development-oriented fellowship . We ’ re very fortunate to receive plenty of opportunities to liaise with highperformance coaches and increase our teamwork and leadership skills . And to also begin engaging regularly with people outside of academia , which is important to get the message out and allow for the research ’ s translational potential to be more clearly communicated to the broader public .”
Race Against Dementia aims to bring together a team of international dementia experts to help fight the disease , and Sir Jackie Stewart wants to use the best practices from F1 technology to spur dementia research on .
“ Congratulations to Dr Bademosi and Dr McKinnon on being chosen from more than 40 high quality applications ,” Stewart said . “ My wife , Helen , was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2014 , and ever since then I have devoted my efforts globally to raise funds and stimulate breakthroughs and innovations in dementia research .
“ I hope this award assists the recipients , and the research community more broadly , to apply a ‘ Formula 1 attitude ’ to work faster and smarter and continue to make breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of dementia .”
And ultimately that ’ s what motivates both Bademosi and McKinnon : answering the tough questions and having an impact on the lives of others .
“ I have had to take care of someone [ with dementia ] by myself ,” Bademosi says .