NUTRACEUTICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTION IN NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS
Dr Virginie Lam, Research Fellow
Curtin Medical Research Institute, Curtin University &
Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science
Perth, Western Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Perth, Australia | August 2025
Dr Virginie Lam is a neuroscientist and cerebrovascular biologist with over 15 years of research experience, including more than seven years post-PhD. She co-leads the Neurovascular and Metabolic Diseases Laboratory at the Curtin Medical Research Institute and holds an affiliate appointment at the Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science. Her research focuses on the interface between neurovascular health, cognitive function, and therapeutic translation in neurodegenerative disorders.
Dr Lam is the scientific project manager and co-investigator of a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)-supported Phase II randomised controlled trial in Alzheimer’s disease. She has led the expansion of this study into a multi-site trial involving centres across Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. She also established the trial’s first international collaboration in New Zealand, supporting a trans-Tasman research network across academic, hospital, and clinical trial partners.
Dr Lam has secured over AUD$6 million in competitive research funding as chief investigator, including grants from the MRFF, NHMRC, Raine Foundation, WA Future Health Research and Innovation Fund, and the Bryant Stokes Neurological Research Fund. Her expertise spans clinical trial coordination, human research ethics, neuroimaging, cognitive assessment, and the translation of preclinical findings into early-phase interventions. She has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and currently leads a multidisciplinary team of scientists, clinicians, and research personnel.
She serves on the National Imaging Facility (WA Node) Advisory Board, Curtin University’s human and animal research ethics committee, and multiple NHMRC peer review panels. Dr Lam is actively engaged in research governance and capacity building, having founded and co-chaired several early-to-mid-career researcher (EMCR) committees and national working groups. Her research program continues to inform the development of targeted therapeutic strategies for neurovascular and cognitive disorders through rigorous translational science and cross-sector collaboration.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8463-645X
-
Mechanisms of resistance to menin inhibitor therapy and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia
Dr Rithin Nedumannil (MBBS, MPH, FRACP, FRCPA) is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, undertaking his doctoral studies in collaboration with the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (Cambridge, UK) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Melbourne, Australia). He is a clinical haematologist and haematopathologist with current appointments at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Austin Health and Northern Health.
-
Novel immunotherapies in lymphoma
Dr Sean Harrop is a dual-trained haematologist having completed his clinical and laboratory haematology training at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. He is the current clinical haematology fellow (aggressive lymphoma) at Peter MacCallum and a PhD student in the Cancer Immunology Program in the Neeson Lab.
-
Big data to improve the use of antidepressant medicines in aged care
Georgina Hughes is a pharmacist & PhD Candidate with the University of South Australia Clinical and Health Sciences and the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA), undertaking research at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
Georgina’s PhD study and first published paper was on how to improve the safe and effective use of antidepressant medicines and optimise quality use of medicines in older people accessing residential aged care.
