Dr Jun Yuan is an emerging leader in brain–bone axis research, investigating how skeletal health and bone-derived proteins influence brain ageing, cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. He is a Research Fellow at the Perron Institute and an Adjunct Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia.

Originally trained in medicine and surgery in China, Dr Yuan completed his PhD in biomedical sciences at UWA. His research provided the first clinical evidence linking elevated levels of the bone-derived protein sclerostin with greater amyloid-beta burden in the brains of cognitively healthy older adults. His subsequent population research has strengthened evidence connecting lower bone density with future dementia risk. He is now investigating how sclerostin may influence neurogenesis, neuronal structure and function, helping reveal the biological mechanisms linking skeletal health with cognitive decline.

Dr Yuan also established and leads a clinical cohort of 120 older adults with hip fractures, creating a unique collection of paired bone, blood and cognitive data. This translational resource enables discoveries from large population datasets to be tested directly in clinically relevant human samples.

He has secured more than $136,000 as lead investigator to advance bone–brain biomarker research. By uncovering how bone communicates with the brain, Dr Yuan aims to identify new biomarkers and therapeutic targets that support healthier ageing and earlier intervention for dementia.

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