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Claire O'Callaghan

Clinical research fellow, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge

I am a clinical research fellow with a focus on neuropsychiatric symptoms in neurodegenerative conditions.

Symptoms such as apathy, depression, impulsivity and social impairments are common in neurodegenerative disease. My research takes a transdiagnostic approach across different conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and frontotemporal dementia, to study neuropsychiatric symptoms. Drawing from both clinical and cognitive neurosciences, I aim to develop novel neuropsychological assessment tools to detect these symptoms, in combination with multimodal neuroimaging and pharmacological manipulations. Together, my goal is to refine our characterisation of these symptoms and better establish their neural basis, to ultimately improve therapeutic strategies.

Research Focus:

Neurodegeneration
Neuropsychiatry
Impulsivity
Apathy
Hallucinations
Neuropsychology

Clinical conditions:
Alzheimer's disease
Cognitive impairment
Dementia
Frontotemporal dementia
Huntington's disease
Parkinson's disease
Stroke

Experience

  • –present
    Clinical research fellow, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge
  • 2011–2013
    Clinical Neuropsychologist, Concord & Nepean Hospitals, Sydney, Australia

Education

  • 2015 
    Neuroscience Research Australia & University of NSW, Sydney, Australia, PhD