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DoctorMatt Kirkcaldie

Snr Lecturer Dementia Studies

Wicking Dementia Research Education Centre

Orcid identifier0000-0003-3285-0168 (opens in a new tab)⁠
  • Snr Lecturer Dementia Studies
    Wicking Dementia Research Education Centre
  • +61 3 6226 2662 (Work)
  • +61 3 6226 2679 (Fax)
  • Wicking Dementia Research Education Centre, College of Health and Medicine, Hobart CBD Campuses, TAS

SUPERVISION AND TEACHING SUMMARy

Teaching: Neuroscience, neuroanatomy, brain, sensory systems, motor control, memory, evolutionary biology, research methods, plasticity, behaviour, physiology, enteric nervous system, gastrointestinal physiology.

Expertise: Dr Kirkcaldie has extensive experience in undergraduate medical education including curriculum design and accreditation both at the University of Tasmania and the University of New South Wales. He has 20 years of undergraduate and graduate teaching experience in neuroscience, research methods and physiology. As a passionate science communicator, Matt also has a decade of outreach secondary schools experience (running in-school sessions, school visits for brain dissections, and the Brain Bee competition).

Recently, he undertook the design, development, content creation and delivery of the first dementia-specific postgraduate degrees in the world. The Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Master of Dementia are cross-disciplinary online courses with unique educational design allowing students to directly translate learning into their areas of interest.

Unit coordination: 
CAD600 Methods in Dementia Research
CAD700 Major Project in Dementia Studies

CAD101 Ageing, the Brain and Dementia

Research supervision: Matt currently supervises PhD and other research students across several disciplines. Interested students are welcome to contact him to discuss potential projects.

SUPERVISION & TEACHING

  • CURRENT DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Analysis of beta amyloid
    30 Mar 2026
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Virtual Reality Technology in Screening Pre-clinical Alzheimer’s Disease
    16 Dec 2019 - 28 Aug 2024
    Yuan Tian
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Parvalbumin Interneurons and Perineuronal Nets in Ageing and Neurodegeneration
    1 Dec 2018 - 14 Dec 2023
    Ellie Annemarie Bucher
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Neuropathological, Glial and Behavioural Changes following a TBI in a Mouse Model of Amyloidosis
    1 Apr 2018 - 22 Aug 2022
    Olivia Grace Holloway
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Oligodendrocyte Dysfunction in Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
    22 Feb 2016 - 16 Dec 2021
    Samuel Dwyer
  • COMPLETED MASTERS SUPERVISION
    Sleep Pattern and Physiological Markers of Stress in Graduate Paramedics
    9 Apr 2015 - 18 Dec 2019
    Jason Betson
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Frontotemporal Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Proteins in Neurite Health and Dysfunction
    1 Mar 2014 - 11 Aug 2018
    Rachel Alice Kathryn Atkinson
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    The Effect of Traumatic Brain Injury in Experimental Models of Alzheimer’s Disease
    5 Mar 2012 - 12 Aug 2016
    Jessica Marie Collins
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Axonal and Synaptic Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease
    1 Mar 2009 - 27 Jun 2013
    Stanislaw Mitew
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Immune System Modulation in the Brain Injury of the Metallothionein-I/II null Mutant Mouse
    28 Feb 2007 - 1 Mar 2011
    Michael William Pankhurst
  • COURSE COORDINATED
    Graduate Certificate in Dementia
    Be at the forefront of innovation to address dementia, the major health and social issue of the 21st centuryThe Master of Dementia Program (offering a Graduate Certificate in Dementia; Graduate Diploma of Dementia and Master of Dementia) is aimed at graduates and professionals currently working within or building their expertise in, any field related to dementia. It is built on the perspectives of individuals, families, communities, health care systems and governments, as well as the neurobiology of dementia, including pathology, biomarkers and therapeutics.Course objectivesThe rising prevalence of dementia is creating new challenges and a pressing need for change in the way our systems and practices support people who live with dementia. This program will equip you with the expertise to lead transformation, based on the latest evidence.Course information:Fully online and flexible with modular content suitable for a wide variety of study approachesEasy to navigate and accessible across a range of devicesPersonal perspectives highlighted in assessments linking acquired knowledge to individual contexts.Relevant and up-to-date course information
  • COURSE COORDINATED
    Graduate Diploma of Dementia
    Be at the forefront of innovation to address dementia, the major health and social issue of the 21st centuryThe Master of Dementia Program (offering a Graduate Certificate in Dementia; Graduate Diploma of Dementia and Master of Dementia) is aimed at graduates and professionals currently working within or building their expertise in, any field related to dementia. It is built on the perspectives of individuals, families, communities, health care systems and governments, as well as the neurobiology of dementia, including pathology, biomarkers and therapeutics.Course objectivesThe rising prevalence of dementia is creating new challenges and a pressing need for change in the way our systems and practices support people who live with dementia. This program will equip you with the expertise to lead transformation, based on the latest evidence.Course information:Fully online and flexible with modular content suitable for a wide variety of study approachesEasy to navigate and accessible across a range of devicesPersonal perspectives highlighted in assessments linking acquired knowledge to individual contexts.Relevant and up-to-date course information
  • COURSE COORDINATED
    Master of Dementia
    Be at the forefront of innovation to address dementia, the major health and social issue of the 21st centuryThe Master of Dementia Program (offering a Graduate Certificate in Dementia; Graduate Diploma of Dementia and Master of Dementia) is aimed at graduates and professionals currently working within or building their expertise in, any field related to dementia. It is built on the perspectives of individuals, families, communities, health care systems and governments, as well as the neurobiology of dementia, including pathology, biomarkers and therapeutics.Course objectivesThe rising prevalence of dementia is creating new challenges and a pressing need for change in the way our systems and practices support people who live with dementia. This program will equip you with the expertise to lead transformation, based on the latest evidence.Course information:Fully online and flexible with modular content suitable for a wide variety of study approachesEasy to navigate and accessible across a range of devicesPersonal perspectives highlighted in assessments linking acquired knowledge to individual contexts.Relevant and up-to-date course information
  • UNIT COORDINATED
    Methods for Dementia Research
    This unit provides students with a working knowledge of the application of major research methods and design approaches used to build the evidence base in health and social care, neurobiology, policies and systems, and public health. We examine major research methods and use this knowledge to discuss research papers, leading to critical evaluations of method. This unit will enable you to engage with the primary literature, develop a critical sense of the nature of publications, evidence, and the trustworthiness of sources, and understand what constitutes a ‘healthy' paper and, by extension, good research. This knowledge base is essential for the research-oriented content of the 700 level units in the Master of Dementia.