Catherine Blizzard

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a devastating disease that is in desperate need of new therapies. FTD can affect people throughout their adult life and results in changes in personality and behaviour. We have identified a new way that might be causing brain cells to stop working in FTD. Changes to synapses - the specialised structures that allow brain cell to communicate with each other – may be occurring very early in FTD. Finding these early changes is really important as it is crucial to protect the brain cells before they are gone. 

We are now trying to protect the brain cells and their synapses with a non-invasive stimulation method.  Our investigations indicate that we can manipulate these changes through this method. We have found that if we decrease communication, FTD like disease mice get sicker, and if we increase communication, their symptoms improve.  These studies provide important information on the best way to try and treat FTD, and how to target neuronal communication. 

At the time of award, Dr Blizzard was an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow at the Menzies Institute For Medical Research, University of Tasmania.

Dr Blizzard is now a senior lecturer and research leader at the Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania.