Professor Kate Hoy, Clinical Neuropsychologist and Senior Research Scientist
Professor Kate Hoy (she/her) is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Senior Research Scientist at the Bionics Institute where she leads the Cognitive Disorders Treatment Program.
Professor Hoy is a leading clinical researcher and has been awarded three sequential NHMRC Fellowships; an NHMRC excellence award (Top Ranked CDF); and a 2017 Victorian Telstra Business Women’s Award.
Her vision is to transform the existing therapeutic landscape for cognitive disorders by developing, for the first time, truly effective therapies.
Over the last 15 years, Professor Hoy has built an internationally unique program of clinical research investigating non-invasive brain stimulation for the treatment of cognitive impairment.
Her research has investigated novel therapeutic targets for cognitive impairment in disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, Huntington’s disease, head injury, and schizophrenia.
Building on this work, she has led a number of world-first brain stimulation clinical trials, including trials for the treatment and prevention of dementia.
Prof Hoy’s depth and breadth of experience in the field of non-invasive brain stimulation is largely unparalleled, having worked with a variety of stimulation methods, diverse patient populations, and a wide range of research methodologies.
Professor Hoy’s reputation as a leading clinical brain stimulation researcher is internationally recognised.
She has received over $19M in funding to date (including as an Investigator on a $12M clinical trial network) and has published over 120 scientific journal articles.
Professor Hoy is on the editorial board of Cortex and is the immediate past president of the Australasian Brain Stimulation Society.
She is also a passionate and active science advocate and mentor, particularly around issues of equity, diversity and inclusion and career sustainability.
Professor Hoy has mentored extensively, including into the ATSE Industry Mentoring Network, the NHMRC Dementia Fellows Sponsorship Program, the Global STEM Alliance initiative – 1000 girls, 1000 futures, and the Monash Business School’s Your Leadership Voice program.
Professor Hoy has worked with the Australian Academy of Science since 2012 on a number of national diversity and inclusion initiatives.
In 2016 she founded the WomeninBrainStim.com initiative, a database website highlighting female scientists in the brain stimulation field for conference organisers, journal editors and research institutions.
Her initiative has had a positive impact in addressing the extreme gender imbalances at international brain stimulation conferences, highlighted in Science Careers (2019) and eLIFE (2021).
ORCID: 0000-0003-0694-9674
Google Scholar: Kate Hoy
Media coverage
Herald Sun 3 November 2022: Depression treatment may be key to Alzheimer’s research
3AW with Ross and Russel 3 November 2022
Channel 7 Sunrise 3 November 2022
Channel 10 News 3 November 2022
ABC TV News 3 November 2022
Top publications
- Hoy KE, Emonson MRL, Bailey N, Humble G, Coyle, H, Rogers C, & Fitzgerald PB. Investigating neurophysiological markers of symptom severity in Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 85(1), 309-32, 2022.
- Hoy KE, Coyle, H, Gainsford K, Hill A, Bailey N, & Fitzgerald PB. Investigating neurophysiological markers of impaired cognition in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 233, 34-43, 2021.
- Hoy KE, Bailey NW, Michael M, Fitzgibbon, B, Rogasch, N, Sakei T, Fitzgerald PB. Enhancement of working memory and task related oscillatory activity following intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation in healthy controls. Cerebral Cortex, 26(12): 4563-4573, 2016
- Hoy KE, Fitzgerald PB. Brain stimulation in psychiatry and its effects on cognition. Nature Reviews Neurology. 6, 267–275, 2010.
