Heather McCann has worked for over 20 years in brain banking and neuroscience research and has utilised valuable donor brain tissue to publish a number of neuropathology-focused primary research papers and reviews on a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including Lewy body disease, Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal degeneration, multiple system atrophy and myoclonus dystonia. As Manager of the Sydney Brain Bank, her primary roles are overseeing the processing and storage of donated brain and spinal cord tissue with an emphasis on maintaining the highest possible tissue quality and liaising with national and international researchers to provide tissue specimens for merit-based research projects.

Heather has a particular interest in the histopathological analysis of brain and spinal cord tissue, which is essential for the classification of cases and enables careful construction of disease group cohorts.