Patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease will soon gain access to two newly approved drug therapies through an expanded dementia service at Macquarie University Health.
Professor James Burrell, a clinical neurologist and the newly appointed Professor of Cognitive Neurology at Macquarie, recently joined the university’s specialist team. Professor Burrell says the arrival of “disease-modifying” Alzheimer’s drugs represents a significant medical advancement after decades of treatments that could only manage symptoms.
Burrell previously led the Neurology Department at Concord Hospital, where he established a Young Onset Dementia clinic. At Macquarie, he hopes to leverage the facility’s expertise in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, and other degenerative conditions.
‘I’m keen to see what we can learn from each other in terms of what these diseases have in common and what we may be able to do to further our understandings and develop diagnostic and prognostic tools and treatments across the spectrum,’ says Professor Burrell.
Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, is driven by the buildup of amyloid plaques. Donanemab and lecanemab, the two new medications approved for early Alzheimer’s, work by binding to amyloid and stimulating the immune system to clear it.
Macquarie’s clinical and research environment allows the site to manage the full treatment pathway: advanced imaging, infusion facilities, and close neurological monitoring.
With the new medications now available, Macquarie University Health is positioning itself as a key centre for next-generation dementia care in Australia.
