Drug Trials

The Sydney Centre for Clinical Cognitive Research is headed by Professor Henry Brodaty (Chief Investigator) and Dr Karen Berman (Co-investigator and Study Coordinator). Our psychologists are Kim Burns, Louisa Gibson, Claire Thompson and Dr Adrienne Withall. Lynne Seifman is our Administrative Assistant.

Our centre is currently conducting a number of drug trials.

To be eligible for a screening visit for trials conducted by this department, patients should have a diagnosis of dementia, be able to attend regular appointments at the hospital and be generally in good health. Participation by patients in all trials is entirely voluntary and free of charge.

If you are interested in finding out more about drug trials please phone the Sydney Centre for Clinical Cognitive Research on 9382 3733 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Fridays. You can download an outline of what it means to be involved in clinical trials in our department at the top right hand side of this page.
You can also click here if you would like to read about the eligibility criteria for our current Memantine study.

Past Trials

Another recently completed trial studied the effect of RISPERIDONE on nursing home patients with both dementia and behavioural problems. Risperidone has been available in Australia since 1994 and is approved for use in the treatment of schizophrenia. It is generally well tolerated by patients and has been found to improved disturbed behaviours such as delusions, aggression and hallucinations. The trial compared the effect of Risperidone with that of placebo, in treating dementia sufferers with behavioural disturbances. It also evaluated the safety of Risperidone compared with that of placebo in elderly patients, and looked at the quality of life of these patients.

We also trialled the drug CELECOXIB which is a potent non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent, which has been found to slow the progress of disease in some patients suffering from AD. Unlike other commonly used anti-inflammatory agents, Celecoxib is believed to have few gastrointestinal side-effects. This trial assessed both the progression of AD in patients taking this drug, compared with those taking placebo, and the safety of this drug in the elderly.

We have additionally completed studies examining the effects of Galantamine upon patients with Alzheimer's disease, as well as the use of this medication for patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

The Xaliproden Study

This trial is being conducted to see if it is possible to modify the brain changes that occur in Alzheimer's Disease. Recruitment for this trial has now closed. All participants in this study have mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

The 3 Country Study

This is a multinational longitudinal study that was conducted in England, the United States and Australia. This study targeted the carers of patients with diagnosed Alzheimer's disease to examine the impact upon their health.

Newsletters

You can download our past newletters at the top right hand side of this page.