Ben Lam

Dr. Ben Lam is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at the University of New South Wales. With expertise in statistical consulting and cross-cultural psychology, Dr. Lam contributes to research on cognitive aging, dementia, and the impact of social relationships on cognitive health in later life.

Dr. Lam completed his undergraduate and Honours degrees in Psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, followed by a Master of Psychology at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He earned his PhD at Iowa State University in the United States. Prior to joining CHeBA, he worked as a Postdoc at the University of Queensland studying retirement adjustment and cognitive health.

Dr. Lam's research focuses on understanding cognitive aging and dementia through cross-cultural perspectives. His work examines how social relationships, cultural factors, and lifestyle elements influence cognitive health in older adults. He specializes in statistical modeling of dementia and aging using COSMIC, a large collection of longitudinal studies on aging and dementia across different geographical regions. His research aims to harmonize study data to make results more comparable and increase the effectiveness of dementia diagnosis across cultural contexts. Dr. Lam has published extensively on topics including social relationships and cognitive decline post-retirement, blood pressure and cognitive function, and cross-cultural aspects of mental health in aging populations.

Dr. Lam's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on international collaborative research, with studies spanning multiple countries and cultural contexts. His work frequently employs meta-analytic approaches to examine dementia risk factors, cognitive aging patterns, and the impact of social determinants on brain health. Notable themes in his recent work include the relationship between vascular health and cognitive decline, the role of social engagement in maintaining cognitive function, and the development of standardized metrics for dementia diagnosis across diverse populations.

As a statistical consultant at CHeBA, Dr. Lam collaborates with researchers across various specialties including neuroimaging and cognitive testing. He values the opportunity to work with clinicians to gain practical insights into the experiences of patients with neurodegenerative diseases.