Rate My Professor Tracy Melzer

Dr Tracy Melzer is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, School of University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Division of Health Sciences. She concurrently holds the position of Imaging Research Manager at the New Zealand Brain Research Institute, overseeing all imaging activities for neurological studies, and serves as Associate Professor in Te Kura Mahi ā-Hirikapo | School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing at the University of Canterbury, teaching courses on Neuroscience of Communication and Speech and Applied Neuroscience: Brain Imaging.

Melzer obtained her PhD in Medicine from the University of Otago, BSc (Hons) in Medical Physics from the University of Canterbury, and BA (Hons) in Physics from the University of Montana. Her research focuses on developing and applying advanced neuroimaging techniques, including structural, diffusion, perfusion, and functional MRI, as well as metabolic and amyloid PET imaging, to study Parkinson's disease progression, cognitive impairment, dementia, and cerebrovascular health. Key projects include longitudinal tracking of Parkinson's disease and investigations into neurovascular mechanisms of cognitive decline.

Among her major awards are the Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowship from the Health Research Council ($500,000 over 48 months, awarded in 2016) for research on tau pathology and cerebrovascular health in dementia and Parkinson's disease, the Neurological Foundation Philip Wrightson Postdoctoral Fellowship (2014), and recognition as one of the University of Otago's rising research stars in 2018. She has supervised doctoral theses on topics such as dual-phase PET imaging in cognitive impairment, longitudinal MRI of cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease, and saccadic eye movements in Parkinson's disease.

Prominent publications include 'The MoCA: well-suited screen for cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease' (Neurology, 2010), 'Grey matter atrophy in cognitively impaired Parkinson's disease' (Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2012), 'Arterial spin labelling reveals an abnormal cerebral perfusion pattern in Parkinson’s disease' (Brain, 2011), 'White matter microstructure deteriorates across cognitive stages in Parkinson disease' (Neurology, 2013), and contributions to multicenter analyses like 'International multicenter analysis of brain structure across clinical stages of Parkinson's disease' (Movement Disorders, 2021). Her research has amassed over 6,800 citations on Google Scholar, contributing substantially to neuroimaging advancements in neurology. She delivered a public lecture on brain imaging in Parkinson's disease at the University of Otago in 2016.