Maddison Mellow
Personalising the prescription of lifestyle interventions for dementia risk reduction using a precision medicine approach
Award
Dr Maree Farrow Memorial Post-doctoral Fellowship
Status
In progress
Start Date
1 July 2026
About the project
What is the focus of the research?
Creating personalised dementia-prevention programs that fit the individual needs, lifestyles and health histories of older adults.
Why is this important?
Almost half of dementia cases worldwide could potentially be prevented with healthy lifestyle habits, including eating well, getting regular exercise and keeping body weight in check. Unfortunately, many prevention programs fail to create lasting habits because they don’t consider a person’s individual circumstances. Instead of a “one-size-fits-all” approach, Dr Mellow will use advanced data analysis approaches and work with older adults to develop personalised strategies and practical tools that empower people to successfully enhance their physical activity, sleep and dietary choices in ways that are realistic, enjoyable and sustainable. This could significantly delay or prevent thousands of dementia diagnosis around Australia.
What could it mean for older Australians?
- Delay or prevent dementia and other lifestyle-related illnesses.
- Effective, personalised lifestyle guidance that suits daily routines and health needs.
Easy-to-adopt tools that make it simpler to adopt and maintain healthy habits.
Where are they now?
Dr Mellow is a research fellow in the Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA) Research Centre at Adelaide University.
