DrJohannes Michaelian

BMedSc (Hons I), PhD

Dr Michaelian is an Australian dementia researcher with expertise in blood-based biomarkers and translational memory clinic research. He obtained his undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications through the University of Sydney, completing his PhD within the School of Psychology in 2021. His doctoral research included designing and coordinating a world-first clinical trial evaluating intranasal oxytocin as a treatment for social-cognitive impairment in people living with Alzheimer’s disease, and he continues to maintain an active research interest in social cognition across the dementia spectrum.

Through his early career, Dr Michaelian has developed a translational body of research integrating blood-based biomarkers, neuroimaging and detailed clinical phenotyping to improve the early diagnosis and clinical management of dementia. He established and currently leads the Healthy Brain Ageing Biofluids Program, which holds more than 20,000 aliquots (plasma, serum, buffy coat) from over 1300 deeply phenotyped patients. He was also a Principal Investigator and central coordinator of a world-first multicentre trial evaluating how disclosure of plasma p-tau181 results influences diagnosis, diagnostic confidence and management in Australian memory clinics.

His broader research spans neuroinflammation, frailty, vascular health and sleep across ageing and Alzheimer’s disease. His work has been recognised through the 2025 AD/PD™ Junior Faculty Award and the 2026 Baillieu Myer AC Early Career Researcher Award. He currently holds the Kennards Hire Foundation Dementia Research Fellowship within the Healthy Brain Ageing Program at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre.

Dr Michaelian developed and currently manages the Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT) National Memory and Cognition Clinic Online Finder Tool - which currently lists over 160 services throughout metropolitan, regional and rural Australia. More recently, with the approval of amyloid-lowering monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies for Alzheimer's disease, he developed the ADNeT National mAb Therapy Prescribing Site and Clinic Finder Tool

An up to date list of Dr Michaelian's publications can be found here