Researcher biography

Dr Dana Pourzinal is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Dementia & Neuro Mental Health Research Unit within the UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine. From her PhD (2023) and continued research, she has gained extensive expertise in neuroimaging, advanced statistical analysis, and clinical trials, with a particular focus on identifying dementia risk in Parkinson's disease and related therapeutic interventions and biomarkers. Dr Pourzinal's current work aims to improve current clinical practice for people living with Parkinson's disease (MRFF-funded PDCogniCare project) by developing guidelines for the diagnosis and management of cognitive disorders in Parkinson's disease.

Dr Pourzinal's primary research interests are focussed on cognition in Parkinson's disease (PD) and include:

  1. Defining and profiling PD cognitive subtypes using advanced data-driven methods.
  2. Neuroimaging biomarkers to predict cognitive decline and dementia risk in PD.
  3. Evaluating pharmacological treatments for dementia risk in PD.
  4. Longitudinal tracking of cognitive trajectories to inform early intervention strategies in PD.