An overview of the evidence on the impact of medication use, alcohol and smoking on late-life cognitive function and risk of dementia.
Speaker bio:
Professor Kaarin Anstey is a Scientia Professor and Director of the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute, and a Conjoint Senior Principal Research Scientist at NeuRA. Kaarin completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Queensland, and her postdoctoral studies at Flinders University and the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute. She held NHMRC Fellowships at the Australian National University from 2001 to 2017 where she was also Deputy Director of the Centre for Mental Health Research from 2009-2011 and Director of Centre for Research in Ageing, Health and Wellbeing from 2012-2017. Currently, Kaarin is an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, and leads an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Cognitive Health. She is also a co-Director of the NHMRC Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration. Kaarin’s research programs focus on the causes, consequences and prevention of cognitive ageing, dementia, and common mental disorders in adulthood. A second focus is older drivers’ risk assessment and safety. Kaarin has worked extensively with longitudinal studies and has led the PATH Through Life Study since 2006. Kaarin is the Chair of the International Research Network on Dementia Prevention, a Director of the Board of the Dementia Australia Research Foundation, a member of the Governance Committee of the Global Council on Brain Health and was a member of the World Health Organisation Guideline Development Group Cognitive Decline and Dementia.