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Brain Awareness Week 2026 has now ended. Subscribe below to stay in the loop for next year’s event!

If you missed this year’s webinars, don’t worry – you can catch up with the recordings. Access webinar recordings >>

Webinars

Resources

Missed out on the live webinars? Don’t worry – you can catch up on all sessions now with the webinar recordings.

Invite your friends & family to Big Trivia to test your knowledge while raising funds for Australian brain research, with our free trivia kit.

Spread the word about Brain Awareness Week with our new toolkit! Download social media images, posters, email footers, and much more.

Speakers

Dr Susanne Roehr
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA)

Dr Susanne Roehr is Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Social Determinants of Dementia at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), UNSW Sydney. Before joining CHeBA in early 2025, she held a position as Associate Professor of Psychology at Massey University in Auckland, where she co-led the New Zealand Body, Mind and Ageing Study. Her interdisciplinary background spans psychology, epidemiology, and public health. 

Dr Roehr’s research focuses on modifiable risk and protective factors for brain health across the lifespan, with a particular interest in the social determinants of dementia, their intersection with climate change and planetary health, and innovative approaches to population-level and individual-level brain health promotion. She has led multiple large-scale studies and collaborates extensively across international consortia, and her research has been recognised with multiple awards. 

Researcher profile

Dr Emma Foster
Alfred Hospital and Monash University

Dr Emma Foster is a Consultant Neurologist at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, with a special interest in Epilepsy and Headache. In addition to her clinical work, she is an early career researcher at Monash University. She has published in leading international journals, including Lancet Neurology, and is regularly invited to present her research at national conferences. She has been the recipient of several prestigious grants and awards, including 3 Brain Foundation scholarships, and is a proud national ambassador for the Epilepsy Foundation. Dr Foster looks forward to contributing to ongoing clinical and research efforts to improve the lives of Australians with brain disorders.

Researcher profile | Brain Foundation Research Grant

Dr Jorn Van Der Veken
Southern Adelaide Local Health District (SALHD)

Dr Jorn Van Der Veken is an Academic Neurosurgeon working in Flinders Medical Centre and Royal Adelaide Hospital (SALHD). He completed his neurosurgical training in Brussels, Belgium, in 2018, then undertook subspecialty fellowships in cerebrovascular surgery at Macquarie University Hospital, the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and Flinders Medical Centre. In 2024, he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS). Dr Van Der Veken has authored 28 peer-reviewed publications, and is actively involved in international, multicentre clinical trials. He is an expert in cerebrovascular surgery, and is dedicated to improving patient-centred outcomes through his research and clinical practice.

Researcher profile | Brain Foundation Research Grant

Prof Greg Sutherland
University of Sydney

Prof Greg Sutherland is a Professor of Molecular Neuropathology in the Neuroscience theme, School of Medical Sciences, based in the Charles Perkins Centre. He leads the research group, Sydney Brainomics, and is the Director of the human postmortem brain bank, New South Wales Brain Tissue Resource Centre. He is also leading a new initiative in international brain banking – Brain Bank Connect. Previously, he has held post-doctoral positions in Brisbane (Eskitis Institute, Griffith University) and Sydney (Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute (now Neura) and the University of Sydney). He graduated with a PhD in molecular medicine from the University of Auckland, New Zealand in 2004. Prior to this, Prof Sutherland spent 13 years in veterinary clinical practice and commercial genomics research.

Researcher profile

Dr Michael Eller
Monash Neurology

Dr Michael Eller specialises in the management of headache disorders such as migraine and trigeminal autonomic cephalgias (TACs) such as cluster headache. This includes the administration of injections for treatment of migraine and the TACs. He also manages other general neurological disorders such as vertigo, cognitive problems, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy and epilepsy. In 2012-2014, Dr. Eller was on the faculty at University of California San Francisco, attached to the UCSF Headache Centre under Professor Peter Goadsby where he conducted clinical and functional neuroimaging research and maintained a headache clinic. He has previously worked as a visiting specialist at Monash Medical Centre and Royal Darwin Hospital, and currently at Monash Neurology.

Website

Frequently Asked Questions

I want to host a Brain Awareness Week event. What should I do?

There are lots of ways to get involved in Brain Awareness Week. Whether you’re hosting an event with friends, colleagues, students, at your local community centre, or any other group – there’s something for everyone. Some ideas include:

• Host a Big Trivia fundraiser with our free trivia kit – sign up here >
• Tune into one of our midday webinars for a workplace Lunch and Learn session.
• Host a morning tea and print out fact sheets for people to take home.
• Download our activity booklet for a fun classroom activity.

Our team is available to help if you have questions about fundraising and events. Simply contact us by emailing info@brainfoundation.org.au. And if you’re hosting an event that is open to the public, let us know so that we can add it to the event page!

How can I raise awareness online?

This year we are creating an awareness toolkit to help people spread the word about Brain Awareness Week. The toolkit will include social media posts, email banners, posters, Zoom backgrounds, and more. Register now to be notified when it’s released!

You can also follow us on social media: Facebook  |  Instagram  |  LinkedIn

Will the webinars be recorded?

Yes, all Brain Awareness Week webinars will be recorded and made available after the event week. However, we’d love to see you in the live sessions! The live webinar is a great opportunity for audience interaction, discussion and audience Q&A (when you can submit a question for the expert).

I attended Brain Awareness Week last year. Do I need to register again?

Yes, you need to register again. Each year the registration for Brain Awareness Week is reset, to help us track event participation and ensure we’re only emailing people who are still interested.

How does the webinar registration work?

When you register for Brain Awareness Week, you will have access to all five webinars. During the event week, we will send out an email each day with the Zoom link for that day’s session.

We do this so that participants don’t have to fill out a separate form to register for each webinar. If you’re only interested in one or two topics, simply skip the other sessions – although we’d love to see you every day! 

Will there be any in-person events?

Yes, we’re excited to share that there will be an in-person event this year! We will share more details soon.