Adelaide University’s Dr Maddison Mellow has been awarded the prestigious Dr Maree Farrow Memorial Post-Doctoral Fellowship worth $450,000 to conduct a study into how to personalise dementia prevention strategies.
Announced today by the Dementia Australia Research Foundation, the study is one of 23 new research projects with a combined total of $4.5 million invested into Australian dementia research.
Dr Mellow said that personalised dementia prevention strategies could delay or prevent dementia and other lifestyle related illnesses.
“Although we can’t change getting older, genetics or family history, we know that there are a range of things we can do to reduce our dementia risk, such as getting enough exercise, eating healthy and looking after our heart health,” Dr Mellow said.
“Currently there is a ‘one size fits all’ approach to prescribing lifestyle changes when it comes to risk reduction. This approach doesn’t take into account that every individual has unique life experience, health conditions, preferences and daily routines, which means they may need (or prefer) different intervention approaches than the next person.
“We will examine how factors like age, sex and personal health history impact what interventions result in the best brain health outcomes for each individual and, using this new knowledge, we will create new methods and tools that can be used to design dementia prevention programs fully personalised to the individual.”
Dementia Australia Research Foundation Chair Professor Graeme Samuel AC congratulated the successful 2025 grant recipients.
“The range and diversity of projects selected shows there is a very exciting future ahead for dementia research,” Professor Samuel said.
“As the largest non-government funder of dementia research, the Dementia Australia Research Foundation is committed to supporting researchers working towards providing better treatment, care and support options for people living with dementia, their families and carers,” Professor Samuel said.
Dementia Australia CEO Professor Tanya Buchanan said the Dementia Australia Research Foundation’s work wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of donors.
“All funding for the Dementia Australia Research Foundation is donated by members of the public and by private and philanthropic organisations,” Professor Buchanan said.
“Thank you to every single supporter who makes funding such important and exciting Australian dementia research possible.”
The Dementia Australia Research Foundation acknowledges the generosity of donors who support dementia research and the grants program. Since 2000, almost $40 million in funding has supported more than 400 projects through the Dementia Grants Program.
The full list of 2025 Grant Round recipients.
Note to Editors:
If this story has prompted any questions or concerns, please call the National Dementia Helpline 1800 100 500 (24 hours, 7 days a week) or visit dementia.org.au.
Media contacts:
Dementia Australia Research Foundation: David Gear E: david.gear@dementia.org.au M: +61 435 515 221
Adelaide University: Annabel Mansfield E: Annabel.Mansfield@adelaide.edu.au
M: +61 479 182 489