Personnel

Professor Brian Lawlor

• Position: Conolly Norman Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin; Consultant Psychiatrist for the Elderly at St James's Hospital, Dublin; Clinical Director NEIL Programme Trinity College Institute for Neuroscience.
• Contact details: Mercer's Institute for Research on Aging, St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8.
• Email: blawlor@stjames.ie
• Telephone: 353-01-249 3283 Fax: 01-677 5016

Research Interests

Professor Lawlor’s research interests are in the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, the neurobiology and treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia and mental disorders in the community dwelling elderly.   Prof. Lawlor has conducted clinical trials and cohort studies of Alzheimer's disease and cross sectional and longitudinal studies of community dwelling healthy older people and those with mental disorders. The overarching aims of Prof. Lawlor’s research programmes are to develop clinical, neuropsychological and biological markers of Alzheimer's disease at the earliest possible stage, to test promising new interventions in clinical populations and to develop scalable strategies for brain health and dementia prevention.

Prof. Lawlor’s research is carried out in partnership with disciplines from basic science and psychology, ranging from development of animal models of Alzheimer's disease to health service development, clinical trials and prevention. Prof. Lawlor is currently participating in a number of collaborative studies in biomarker development and disease modification in Alzheimer’s disease. Prof. Lawlor is lead PI in the NILVAD, and FP 7 funded investigator driven clinical trial examining the effectiveness of nilvadipine a calcium channel blocker as a disease modifying treatment in Alzheimer’s disease and has established the Irish Network for Biomarkers in Neurodegeneration (IN-BIND). .

Prof. Lawlor has a particular interest in improvement of mental health outcomes in the elderly and was lead PI of the Social Connection Strand of TRIL, examining social engagement, loneliness and related mental health issues. He has conducted randomized controlled trials in loneliness and is the lead PI of the Enhancing Care in Alzheimer’s Disease (ECAD) study, a long term study exploring the economic, psychological and physical impact of Alzheimer’s disease for patients and caregivers.  Currently funded projects in this area include a randomized trial of a relational intervention around nutrition and the study of stress and cognition in the caregivers of spouses of people with dementia.

Before returning to Dublin in 1991 to take up his current position Prof. Lawlor was Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York.  Prof. Lawlor has published over 200 papers and has edited or co-edited five books on Old Age Psychiatry.

Professor Lawlor is also:
                          
Director of the Memory Disorders Clinic at M.I.R.A., St James’s Hospital, Dublin
Clinical Director, Neuro-enhancement for Independent Lives (NEIL), Trinity College Institute for Neuroscience
Associate Editor, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Associate Editor, Journal of Ageing and Mental Health
Associate Editor, International Psychogeriatrics

Key Research Projects

DeStress: Exploring the effect of stress on cognition in caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease

RelAte: a relational nutrition intervention in older people at risk

ECHO: Developing a remote assessment tool for dementia

BiomarkAPD -Optimisation & standardization of CSF biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease

Enhancing Care in Alzheimer’s Disease Study (ECAD): A long term study exploring cardiovascular deterioration and the economic, psychological and physical costs of Alzheimer’s disease for patients and caregivers.

Neuroenhancement for Inequalities in Elder Lives: N.E.I.L Study: NEIL aims to develop an internationally replicable technology-linked approach to the prevention of dementia and elder cognitive impairment by enhancing cognitive function.

NILVAD:  An FP7 investigator driven Phase 111 clinical trial of Nilvadipine in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

TRIL - The Social Connection strand of TRIL is engaged in three major initiatives. The collection of social and health data; the analysis of social typology data; and conducting an ethnographic and technology based research programme to increase the social activities and interactions of ageing populations entitled ‘Building Bridges’.

Clinical Services

Memory Clinic
Psychiatry of the Elderly/Mental Health and Ageing

Research Interests

Alzheimer’s disease, including biomarkers and early detection, diagnosis and treatment. The neurobiology and treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia and mental disorders, including late-life depression and late-life dysthymia, social connection and loneliness in the community dwelling elderly.

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations and Societies

Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
Member of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland

Publications

Sweeney EB, Lawlor BA. Case Series: extrapyramidal symptoms associated with use of aripiprazole in older adults. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2013 Nov;28(11):1208-1210 PMID:24101361

Sweeney EB, Greene E, Lawlor BA. Use of the Geriatric Anxiety inventroy-short form as a screening tool for detection of generalised anxiety in a memory clinic population. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2013 Jul;28(7):767-8. PMID: 23737045

Neville CE, McCourt HJ, McKinley MC, Lowis C, Barrett SL, McGuinness B, Todd S, Lawlor B, Gibb M, Coen RF, Passmore AP, Woodside JV. Encouraging lifestyle behavior change in mild cognitive impairment in patients: development of appropriate educational material. Aging Ment Health. 2013;17(3):276-86. PMID: 23402379.

Geoghegan P, O’Donovan MT, Lawlor BA. Investigation of the effects of alcohol on sleep using actigraphy. Alcohol Alcohol. 2013 Jan-Feb; 48(1):126-7. PMID: 23242586.

Research Funding

BIOMARKAPD is an EU Joint Programme - Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) project. The project is supported through the Health Research Board, Ireland [BiomarkAPD JPND/2011/2] under the aegis of JPND - www.jpnd.eu

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