Future Research Leader: Professor Ashleigh Smith

There are 1.3 million reasons to celebrate Professor Ashleigh Smith right now.

She has just been awarded a four-year, $1.32 million ARC Future Fellowship to develop and validate the AI-enhanced, open-access digital tool, MARCA+ at Adelaide University.

MARCA+ will improve the way researchers measure how people spend their 24-hour day – including physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep – and the context in which those activities occur. This will help researchers better investigate how patterns of time use relate to cognition and brain ageing.

Co-designed with the people who will ultimately use it, Ash says the long term goal for MARCA+ is to "detect early changes in time-use patterns that can guide timely, person-centred interventions and support successful ageing".

She recently finished up her Dementia Australia Research Foundation mid-career research fellowship and has spent the past few years building a broader program of research around dementia prevention, time use and brain health.

That program is continuing to grow and we’re really excited to see her work attract funding on such a large scale.

Congrats, Ash. It’s fantastic to see you kicking such incredible goals.