CEO & Executive Director @Neuraustralia Scientia Professor of Neuroscience @UNSW. Neurologist @SEastSydHealth. President @brainfoundoz Editor Emeritus @JNNP_BMJ
Nerve Central @Neuraustralia
Joined October 2010
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Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
A crucial part of NeuRA’s mission to protect brain health across the lifespan is our collaboration with partner institutions whose work complements and carries forward the research we undertake.
For the first time NeuRA has forged a partnership with the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, another of our neighbours in the Randwick Health and Innovation Precinct.
With a shared commitment to advancing research and improving brain and mental health outcomes for children and families, the partnership is already opening the path to new staff appointments and collaboration ideas.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Sydney Children’s Hospital Network to partner with an institute like NeuRA, to bring forward discovery and science to some of the most challenging priorities for Australian health and into translational impact,” said Lani Attwood, Acting Director Research Operations for Kids Research at the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network.
“We’re really keen to see improvements in children and young people’s outcomes that will benefit future generations of Australia.”
NeuRA CEO Professor Matthew Kiernan AM said the partnership would lead to research innovation, but also greater collaboration on existing projects.
“This is going to facilitate opportunities for our researchers to take their work and have clinical translation and impact,” said Professor Kiernan.
“There’ll be a particular emphasis on childhood dementia but also on some existing strengths of NeuRA like mapping the human brain, and carrying that work forward into mapping the child’s brain. We can do that in partnership with the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.”
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
A Sydney research team will examine the connection between disturbed sleep and the onset of Motor Neurone Disease in the latest effort to find a cure.
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
A weaker, slower brain signal may link several schizophrenia symptoms: people with the largest signal differences tended to have worse timing difficulties, more disorganized speech and more severe symptoms. @mcgillu @ScienceAdvances medicalxpress.com/news/2026-…
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
For the first time NeuRA has been one of the co-sponsors of the Australian Mental Health Prize in 2026, and we were delighted to nominate Tony Shirvington to be part of the Prize’s advisory board.
Tony brings a powerful “lived experience” to his membership of the Board, having been first diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1983.
Tony Shirvington served as a Principal Legal Officer for the Australian Government Solicitor and in various other legal positions until his retirement in 2009. Since his first diagnosis he has experienced the changing face of treatments and evolving medications over the past 43 years.
Tony and his wife Virginia are active philanthropic supporters of schizophrenia research at NeuRA, and he described his nomination to the Prize Board as “an honour”. That was reinforced by meeting in person three of the four winners whom Tony and his fellow judges had chosen from more than 80 nominations, at the Prize Giving earlier this month.
“All the winners provided very warm and informative insights into their important and assiduous work towards fostering strong mental health across various sectors of the community,” Tony said.
“The same goes for all the other speakers at what was such an inspiring event. The Prize plays a very important role in highlighting the vital work of all the nominees in helping to improve the lives of people living with mental ill-health. It’s an honour to be part of it.”
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
For the last year and a half, the incredible community of our supporters has included NeuRA Next – a group of young philanthropists passionate about driving progress in neuroscience research across Australia.
Their mission is simple: to raise funds to support the next generation of neuroscience leaders as they build their careers at NeuRA.
Now those funds have been swelled by an incredible $63,800 thanks to the success of just the annual NeuRA Next Gala, held recently at the Fullerton Hotel in Sydney to raise support for our Pearl PhD program.
More than 200 guests came together to celebrate and support the work NeuRA does, on a night made possible by the tireless organisation of the NeuRA Next committee and the generosity of our corporate partners and auction donors. We are deeply grateful to you all, especially our Principal Sponsor, Nexon.
To raise so much so early in the journey of NeuRA Next fills us with belief that the work of our researchers has never been more valued, and that the next generation of neuroscientists are on the right path.
@fullertonsyd @NexonAP
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
Among patients with major depressive disorder, #MachineLearning predicted relapse with moderate accuracy, but the best model used only clinical relapse risk factors. Multimodal data did not improve prediction.
ja.ma/4yDTt1p
ALT A forest plot titled 'Forest Plot of Unimodal and Multimodal Model Performances' comparing mean balanced accuracy (SD) across unimodal and multimodal models, with data points ranging mostly between 0.5 and 0.7.
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
A recurring theme in NeuRA’s work this year has been the concept that collaboration is everything in solving some of society’s most pressing concerns.
The exchange of ideas has been at the heart of events such as our Industry Open Day, but also in understanding how breakthroughs along the dementia pathway can be most effectively implemented.
That requires input from our researchers, from the pharmaceutical industry, from advocates in the policy debate and of course those with lived experience.
That’s why we were delighted to host a symposium recently to hear those viewpoints, including: the Managing Editor of The Australian's Prestige Network, Louise Bryant, whose partner passed away from Alzheimer's disease; CEO of NeuRA, Scientia Professor Dr Matthew Kiernan AM; Executive Director, Services, Engagement and Research at Dementia Australia, Dr Kaele Stokes; and the Managing Director of Roche Diagnostics Australia, Anand Vairavan.
You can watch the resulting discussion here: youtu.be/SnTvLNGHckc
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
Regular daily napping is directly linked to larger total brain volume, potentially delaying brain aging by up to 6.5 years.
According to a study led by researchers at University College London and published in the journal Sleep Health, habitual daytime nappers possess significantly larger total brain volumes than non-nappers.
Utilizing Mendelian randomization to examine genetic data from nearly 380,000 UK Biobank participants, scientists discovered a causal link between genetic predispositions to napping and larger brain size.
The structural difference in volume between regular nappers and non-nappers was equivalent to roughly 2.6 to 6.5 years of aging, or about 4 years on average, offering compelling evidence that short daytime rests could help preserve structural brain health over time.
While brain shrinkage naturally accelerates as people age, maintaining total brain volume is widely regarded as a key indicator of cognitive resilience and lower dementia risk. Interestingly, while the study highlighted clear benefits for overall brain size, it found no direct impact on reaction times, visual memory, or hippocampal volume, suggesting that napping primarily functions as a structural buffer against neurodegeneration rather than an immediate booster for specific cognitive tasks.
Researchers emphasize that brief 15- to 30-minute naps in the early afternoon appear to offer the ideal balance, providing protective benefits without disrupting nighttime sleep.
As brain health remains a top priority for aging populations worldwide, these findings challenge long-held workplace stigmas surrounding daytime rest and suggest that a brief midday power nap might be an essential component of lifelong health maintenance.
source: Paz, V., Dashti, H. S., & Garfield, V. Is there an association between daytime napping, cognitive function, and brain volume? A Mendelian randomization study in the UK Biobank. Sleep Health, 9(5), 786-793.
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
💬Viewpoint: As biomarker testing expands, clinicians will increasingly observe #AlzheimerDisease pathology and copathologies, indicating a need for individualized treatment decisions and more evidence on #AmyloidTargetingTreatments. ja.ma/4772THo
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
Different vascular territories in the brain can give rise to distinct stroke syndromes, with characteristic patterns of neurological impairment.
Some stroke syndromes can be life-threatening, reinforcing the importance of clinicians recognizing and responding to stroke syndromes where they are present in the treatment of acute stroke.
Explore more about stroke syndromes here: neurotorium.org/slidedeck/ne…
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
In the Spring issue of the NeuRA Magazine, we speak to Sydney Brain Bank Director, Associate Professor Claire Shepherd, on how the brain donations are helping tackle our brain health challenges.
Also, NeuRA's Professor George Paxinos and Dr Steve Kassem propose a 'periodic table' for brain structures, how holistic pain treatments tackle links between pain and wellbeing with Professor Sylvia Gustin, we remember Marc Girod, and Ask a Researcher with NeuRA CEO Scientia Professor Matthew Kiernan AM.
And much more!
Tap the link to read it today: neura.edu.au/magazines/the-n…
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
Compounds inspired by the blockbuster weight-loss drugs are also being trialled for schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease
go.nature.com/4hM6O2x
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
Brain DNA methylation, APOE genotype and Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology in a large postmortem cohort idp.nature.com/authorize?res…
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
Professor Matthew Kiernan AM @nervecentrals @Neuraustralia reminds us: “Science Is, by Its Nature, an Optimistic Endeavour.”
victorperton.substack.com/p/…
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
"We think of institutional mental health care as an outdated model. But it is far more than that. It is a human rights issue hiding in plain sight," write Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus time.com/article/2026/10/12/…
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
Scientists have debated for decades whether the human brain sprouts new neurons throughout life.
What would it mean if it could?
go.nature.com/47LNPz2
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
Graeme Souness: Look at my Liverpool team… dead, dead, dementia. I’m lucky thetimes.com/sport/football/…
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
A professor foresees a future when his grandchildren are vaccinated at birth to protect their brains and we have multiple treatments on offer.
All the details: bit.ly/4y4Ku91
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
NeuRA's CEO, Scientia Professor Matthew Kiernan AM, was invited to share his vision for the future of dementia prevention and treatment in The Australian as part of the Think Again campaign. Reflecting on what lies ahead for the next generations, Professor Kiernan expresses optimism that dementia will shift from being a disease we fear to one we proactively prevent.
"A year ago I wrote in these pages of my optimism about the way we understand, diagnose and treat dementia at all ages, and the science of the past 12 months has simply underlined that. Long before my grandchildren’s generation reaches the advanced age where our society currently starts worrying about dementia, I believe a combination of scientific advances and changing behaviour will turn it into something we proactively avoid," says Professor Kiernan.
From newborn screening for rare forms of childhood dementia, dementia vaccines administered alongside routine immunisations, to long-read DNA testing that identifies genetic predispositions, the tools and interventions are within reach.
Professor Kiernan emphasises that society will demand these advances, and that demand will drive the investment and partnerships needed to make them reality. At NeuRA, through initiatives like our Asia-Pacific Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Diagnosis, we're already building that future. Together, we can tame dementia and transform brain health for generations to come.
Professor Matthew C. Kiernan AM Nerve Centrals retweeted
Sir Kevin Sinfield has said his late friend Rob Burrow would be "laughing" but "enormously proud" to see him receive a knighthood.
The rugby league legend and MND campaigner spoke to #BBCBreakfast after receiving the honour from Prince William at Windsor Castle
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq99…