Curtin University researchers will investigate a promising new approach to preventing cognitive decline and dementia in people living with diabetes, after winning a prestigious Diabetes Australia Research Grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Led by Associate Professor Ryu Takechi<\/a> from the Curtin Medical Research Institute<\/a> and Curtin School of Population Health<\/a>, the two\u2011year project will explore how type 2 diabetes and a genetic variant known as apoE4 combine to accelerate brain dysfunction \u2013 and whether two oral medicines can block this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Associate Professor Takechi said people living with diabetes faced a significantly higher risk of dementia, which rose dramatically for those carrying the apoE4 gene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe community has told us clearly that their biggest concerns are keeping memory and independence, having earlier warning signs, and access to simple, affordable treatments,\u201d Associate Professor Takechi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCarers have emphasised the burden of cognitive decline on families and the health system. The research focuses on a newly identified biological pathway involving amyloid beta (small protein fragments) bound to lipoproteins, which help transport fats and cholesterol in the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team has found lipoprotein\u2011bound amyloid beta becomes markedly elevated in diabetes and in people with the genetic variant apoE4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using a world\u2011first, Curtin-developed model, researchers will test two potential treatments: probucol, an off\u2011patent cholesterol\u2011lowering medication being repurposed for brain protection; and HA\u20111, a new compound patented by the researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Associate Professor Takechi said the work could shift dementia care from reactive treatment to proactive prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA simple blood test combined with accessible, low-cost oral therapies has enormous potential to reduce inequities, particularly for regional, culturally diverse and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities,\u201d Associate Professor Takechi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project team includes experts in neurovascular biology, lipid metabolism, neuroimaging and clinical translation from Curtin and The University of Western Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diabetes Australia\u2019s Research Grants support research addressing the lived\u2011experience priorities of people living with diabetes, including reducing complications, improving quality of life and supporting healthy ageing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Curtin University researchers will investigate a promising new approach to preventing cognitive decline and dementia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4457,"featured_media":30583,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":79,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-30580","media-release","type-media-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"acf":{"experts":false,"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"","qualification":"","link":"","description":"","faculty":""}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":[22646,24388]},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AdobeStock_316538422-1-1920x1080.jpeg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Sam","last_name":"Jeremic","display_name":"Samuel Jeremic"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/30580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/media-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/30580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30580"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=30580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cThis project directly responds to those priorities by developing a practical blood test and testing two oral therapies that could be readily accessible in routine diabetes care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n