Professor Yvonne Nolan and Professor Olivia O’Leary awarded HRB funding to promote healthy brain ageing in people with depression

10 Mar 2025

As partners on a European consortium across six countries, Professor Nolan and Professor Olivia O’Leary Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, UCC will investigate if certain lifestyle interventions prevent cognitive deficits in older aged people with depressive symptoms.

Professors Nolan and O'Leary received €330K in funding from the Health Research Board (HRB) who are the Irish funding partner on the €1.7M project under the umbrella of the Partnership Fostering a European Research Area for Health (ERA4Health).

The overall aim of the project is to identify immuno-metabolic, gut microbiome and nutritional signatures associated with cognitive brain ageing, which can then be leveraged to develop strategies to lower the risk of cognitive impairment in people with depression.

Professors Nolan's and O’Leary's expertise in behaviours, hippocampal neurogenesis, inflammation and gut-brain-axis will be used to provide insights on the role of gut microbiota in the effects of diet, exercise or cognitive interventions on cognition and mood in older aged people with depression. 

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Photograph and news item Bereniece Riedewald.