Andrea Loftus
Associate Professor at Curtin University | Dementia & Ageing Researcher
Professional Area: Psychology
My research focuses on
- The identification and management of cognitive, motor, and psychological symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
- The potential of non-invasive brain stimulation and cognitive training for improving cognitive function in Parkinson’s.
- The relationship between sleep, functioning, and quality of life in Parkinson’s.
- The lived experience of significant others (carers, close family members) of people with Parkinson’s.
- The communication between people with Parkinson’s, their family, and health care professionals.
My research aims to
- Improve the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease and their families.
- Develop customised approaches for the management of cognitive symptoms in Parkinson’s.
- Adopt a client (people with Parkinson’s and their families) based approach to research.
- Optimize collaborative research between different research disciplines and Parkinson’s community.
I work closely with
- Parkinson’s Western Australia
- Parkinson’s Specialist Nurses
- Neurologists and Geriatricians
- Parkinson’s support groups within the Perth metropolitan area
Andrea’s Story
I have always been fascinated by the human brain and how it is simultaneously fragile and robust. During my undergraduate studies in psychology, I became interested in how we might be able to help the brain recover from injury. As I worked in residential rehab, I learned that many different approaches can be used to help heal the brain and that no one thing works for everyone. I was so inspired by the stories of the people around me. A lady whose family had been told she would not survive her stroke had not only recovered, but also resumed to swim a couple of years later. People are what motivate my research. Both my mother and grandmother had neurological disorders, and they have been the driving force behind my work. I am very proud to be the Director of ParkC, a collaborative research team in WA for Parkinson’s research. Our mission is to develop the therapeutic approaches of tomorrow! It is also a privilege of mine to mentor and guide ParkC PhD students who realise the impact their research can have on a person’s life. I continue to manage research projects that focus on using non-invasive brain stimulation to slow the onset of cognitive impairment such as dementia and improve cognition in those who have Parkinson’s.