Title

Dr. Roger A. Dixon

RAD, Photo: John Ulan
Contact Information:
Mailing Address
Department of Psychology
P-217 Biological Sciences Bldg
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB
Canada T6G 2E9
Email

rdixon@ualberta.ca

Biographical Background

Current Positions:

  • Department of Psychology (Science)
  • Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute (FoMD)
  • University of Alberta

Previous Positions:

  • University of Victoria
  • Max Planck Institute, Berlin

Previous Visiting Appointments: 

  • Äldrecentrum, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm
  • Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences

Advanced Degrees:

  • University of Chicago
  • Penn State University

Research and Opportunities

Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS)

  • Role: Director and Principal Investigator
  • VLS Headquarters and Lab: University of Alberta
    Satellite Lab: University of Victoria
  • Overview: A long-term (20+ years) and large-scale longitudinal and epidemiological investigation of biomedical, health, genetic, biological, metabolic, lifestyle, reserve/resilience, demographic, and environmental risk and protective factors influencing brain and cognitive trajectories toward and away from decline, impairment, and neurodegenerative disease.
  • Funding: National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Aging) and other partners.
  • Website: https://sites.ualberta.ca/~vlslab/

Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA)

  • Roles: Co-Lead Biomarkers Team and Biosamples Platform, CCNA Research Executive Committee
  • Overview: Cross-national observational study deeply phenotyping older adults with multiple types of complaints, impairment, neurodegenerative disease, and dementia. Important goals are to understand how neurodegenerative diseases develop and what can be done to delay or prevent them.
  • Biomarker Data: Includes clinical, core biomarkers, neuro-imaging, genetics, cognitive battery, neurophysiological, functional, dementia risk, and derived omics panels.
  • Cohorts: Cohorts include Cognitively Normal, Subjective Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Vascular Disease, Mild Alzheimer's Disease, Mixed Etiology, Lewy Body/Parkinson's Disease, and Frontotemporal Dementia.
  • Biomarkers Team Funding: Alberta Innovates in partnership with Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Website: https://ccna-ccnv.ca/

SynAD: Promoting Synergies in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias at the University of Alberta

  • Role: Principal Investigator
  • Team: Co-PIs: Drs. Jack Jhamandas, Satya Kar, Simonetta Sipione, David Westaway; Co-Is: Drs. Richard Camicioli, Elena Posse de Chaves, Valerie Sim
  • Program: Three main initiatives for enhancing research in ADRD: Catalyst Grants, Equipment Grants, and Trainee Funding
  • Funding: Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories, University Hospital Foundation
  • Institutional Partner: Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute
  • National Partners: Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, Campus Alberta Neuroscience
  • Website: https://sites.psych.ualberta.ca/SynAD/

Selected Current Professional Activities

Endowed Chair
  • Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Aging; Tier 1: 2003-2010, 2010-2017
    University of Alberta
Principal Investigator
  • VLS Research Grant (R01 AG008235), National Institutes of Health (NIA)
    https://sites.ualberta.ca/~vlslab/
  • SynAD Alberta
    https://sites.psych.ualberta.ca/SynAD/
Co-Investigator
  • BRAIN Project (PI Howard Chertkow), Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Metabolomics and Alzheimer's (PI Liang Li), Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Co-Leader
  • Biomarkers Team, Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA)
  • Campus Alberta Neuroscience, Healthy Brain Aging and Dementia Group
    https://www.albertaneuro.ca/
Co-Principal Investigator
  • Polygenic Risk Scores for Cognitive Trajectories
  • Machine Learning Technology in Aging and Dementia
  • Machine Learning Prediction of Parkinson's Disease Dementia
Committees
  • Steering Committee
    Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta
  • Research Executive Committee
    Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA)
Co-Organizer
  • International Conference on Promoting Healthy Brain Aging and Preventing Dementia: Research and Translation
    Banff, AB, June 2016 & 2018; Lake Louise, AB, May 2021
    https://can-healthybrains.com/
Founder and Coordinator
  • Alberta Cognitive Neuroscience Group (ACN)
    https://sites.ualberta.ca/~acn/

Selected Recent Professional Activities

President
  • Division of Adult Development and Aging, American Psychological Association
Recognitions
  • Baltes Award (2013-2014), Distinguished Research in Aging
    American Psychological Association
  • NIH MERIT Award, 2002-2007 & 2007-2012, U.S. National Institutes of Health
  • Outstanding Alumnus Award, Penn State University
Review Board
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Canadian Research Chairs, Ottawa
  • US National Institutes of Health
Chair or Co-Chair
  • Human Research Ethics Committee, University of Victoria
  • Section on Adult Development and Aging, Canadian Psychological Association
Member
  • Advisory Board, Alberta Centre on Aging
  • Executive Board, International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development
Recent Invited Talks
  • Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Sweden, UK, USA
Co-Organizer
  • US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Conference on Alternative Pathways for Alzheimer's Disease

Colleagues and Contexts

Mentors
Active or Long-term Collaborators
  • Shea Andrews (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NYC)
  • Kaarin Anstey (University of New South Wales, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA))
  • Lars Bäckman (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)
  • Pierre Bellec (Université de Montréal)
  • Richard Camicioli (University of Alberta)
  • Jeremy Caplan (University of Alberta)
  • Florin Dolcos (Beckman Institute, University of Illinois)
  • Sanda Dolcos (Psychology, University of Illinois)
  • Cindy de Frias (University of Texas)
  • Christopher Hertzog (Georgia Institute of Technology)
  • David F. Hultsch (University of Victoria)
  • Jack Jhamandas (University of Alberta)
  • Margie Lachman (Brandeis University)
  • Liang Li (University of Alberta)
  • Stuart MacDonald (University of Victoria)
  • Jack McArdle (University of Southern California)
  • G. Peggy McFall (University of Alberta)
  • Lars-Göran Nilsson (Stockholm University)
  • Shraddha Sapkota (Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre, University of Toronto)
  • Brent Small (University of South Florida)
  • Esther Strauss (University of Victoria)
  • Åke Wahlin (Jönköping University, Sweden)
  • David Westaway (University of Alberta)
  • Sandra Wiebe (University of Alberta)
Photos
  • Photo Collection (click to view a small collection of photos, including people, the local area, and the Rocky Mountains.)