Introduction to COSMIC

🌍 Discover how COSMIC unites global cohort studies to uncover risk factors for dementia. Join this session on harmonised data, SCD, and global collaboration in research.

Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium, or COSMIC, is an international consortium that combines data from population-based longitudinal cohorts studies to identify common risk factors for dementia and cognitive decline. It is an Australian-led collaboration by the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at UNSW Sydney, Australia, and is funded by the National Institutes of Health, USA. There are currently 59 member studies from 39 countries from six continents. COSMIC facilitates a better understanding of the determinants of cognitive ageing and neurocognitive disorders. This is being achieved by: harmonising shared, non-identifiable data from cohort studies that longitudinally examine change in cognitive function and the development of dementia in older individuals (60+ years), and performing mega- or meta-analyses using combined, harmonised data sets that yield collated results with enhanced statistical power, in addition to comparisons across diverse ethno-regional groups.

This presentation will highlight the current activities of COSMIC and directions for the future, including an appeal for greater involvement in COSMIC projects to expedite discovery and global equity to dementia research. A practical guide to conducting a COSMIC study will be provided, using a multi-country investigation into the prevalence of subjective cognitive decline (SCD) as a case example. The key steps involved from proposal to cohort selection and data harmonisation to analytical strategy and interpretation will be outlined, highlighting both the benefits and challenges of working with large-scale data across culturally and ethnically diverse populations. Attendees will gain insight into the collaborative processes, methodological considerations, and key findings that demonstrate the value of harmonised, cross-national approaches in global cognitive ageing research.

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Speakers

Perminder Sachdev

Perminder Sachdev AM MBBS MD FRANZCP PhD FAHMS is Scientia Professor of Neuropsychiatry, Co-Director of CHeBA, UNSW Sydney, Clinical Director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI) at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, and Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Vascular Contributions to Dementia. His major areas of research are drug-induced movement disorders, brain imaging, cognitive ageing and dementia, especially vascular cognitive impairment. He has published over 900 peer-reviewed journal papers and 6 books, including one for lay readers (The Yipping Tiger and other tales from the neuropsychiatric clinic) and a book of poems (A migrant’s musings). He was named NSW Scientist of the year for Biomedical Sciences in 2010. In 2011, he was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to medical research. He was awarded the Ryman Prize in 2022 by an international jury for the most significant contributions world-wide toward the health of older people, and delivered the Lishman Oration for the International Neuropsychiatric Association in 2024.

Dr Susanne Röhr

Dr Susanne Röhr is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Social Determinants of Dementia at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), UNSW Sydney. Susanne’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 planetary health, and innovative approaches to population-level and individual-level brain health promotion. Susanne has been collaborating with COSMIC since 2017.