Neurodevelopment in Health and Disease

Image: Hill-Yardin Group

Neurodevelopment in Health and Disease

Neurodevelopment in Health and Disease

We are a multidisciplinary research program identifying the determinants of healthy brain development, and combating the early origins of neurological disease across the lifespan.

Contact us

To contact an individual researcher please see our who we are page. Alternatively, reach out to our Program Leader, Professor David Walker using the button below.

Email David Walker

Research focus

We are Australian leaders in functional and structural examination of the brain and peripheral nervous system. We are discovering the fundamental neural changes that occur during development, and how these might be changed or disrupted by disease and environmental impacts. Our research across the lifespan is advancing our understanding of how to keep the brain healthy for longer.

Capabilities

Our research addresses fundamental neurobiological questions and important biomedical problems including: poor fetal growth, cerebral palsy, obesity, stress, cognitive dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, stroke, sleep disorders, and the origins of behavioural abnormalities such as autism.

We use molecular, pharmacological, microfluidics, neurophysiological, and behavioural assessment techniques to enable the investigation of oxidative stress, neurogenesis and myelination, mitochondrial function, regulation of brain energy supply, neuroendocrinology of stress, quantitative assessment of behaviour and cognition, and detailed evaluation of brain structure using MRI/MRS, electrophysiology, qPCR, Next-Gen sequencing, super-resolution microscopy and immunohistochemistry.

Our impact

We work with a range of Australian and global organisations to provide innovative discoveries into maximizing brain health.

Who we are

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Latest NDHD news

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Latest Health and Biomedical Science news

Immune system overreaction linked to deadly flu in pregnancy

15 May 2026

Researchers have discovered why influenza can lead to life-threatening complications during pregnancy, as Australia prepares for the flu season.

New technology helps flat-faced dogs breathe easy 

23 Apr 2026

Scientists have developed an injectable therapy that helps clear blocked airways in flat-faced dogs.

European research lays the groundwork for future stem cell clinical trials

11 Feb 2026

RMIT has contributed to an international consortium exploring how human mesenchymal stem cells could help to repair brain injury in children born preterm.

The impact of early life events on lifelong health

21 Nov 2025

RMIT researchers are investigating the earliest moments of life and their role in the development of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

Learn more about our commitment to Indigenous cultures