About
Associate Professor Ian Harding is an NHMRC EL2 Leadership Fellow (2024-28). He completed his PhD in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Melbourne in 2013, before commencing a post-doc and NHMRC Early Career Research Fellowship investigating the neural expression and progression of cerebellar ataxias at Monash University. He established the Cerebellum & Neurodegeneration Research Group (CNRG) at Monash University in 2020 and joined QIMRB in 2024.
Area of Interest
Associate Professor Harding and his team use multimodal human neuroimaging (structural, functional, diffusion & susceptibility MRI, and positron emission tomography), blood protein analysis, digital cognitive and motor assessments, and clinical examinations to examine cerebellar function and degeneration in neurological and psychiatric diseases. Our research provides in-depth disease characterization and biomarkers for clinical assessment, treatment monitoring, and treatment targeting.
Research Highlights
- Neuroimaging and biofluid biomarker studies of cerebellar (e.g., Friedreich ataxia and spinocerebellar ataxias) and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Huntington’s disease, Parkinsonian syndromes) to improve the design and effectiveness of clinical trials and identify markers and mechanisms of neurodegeneration.
- Digital approaches for remote assessment and tracking of cognitive, motor, and speech deficits in individuals with cerebellar diseases.
- Principal investigator of the ENIGMA-Ataxia neuroimaging consortium (22 sites, 9 countries, >80 researchers) and the ENIGMA-Cerebellum methods development group (methods used by research groups in >25 countries to investigate >20 neurological and psychiatric conditions).
- Coordinating site of the Australian Cerebellar Ataxia Registry, establishing centralized research capacity to grow and support research initiatives in Australia.
Funding