Associate Professor John Kwok holds the position of Associate Professor of Neurogenetics and Epigenetics and Principal Research Fellow at the Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, within the Neuroscience Research Theme of the School of Medical Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine and Health. He earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge. As Team Leader of the Forefront Neurogenetics and Epigenetics Research Group, Kwok's research centers on elucidating the genetic and epigenetic factors contributing to neurodegenerative diseases. His work examines genetic variants in genes associated with sporadic and familial forms of dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The group investigates how these genetic changes influence disease risk, pathology, and progression to inform the development of novel diagnostics and therapeutic strategies. Kwok also explores lifestyle and epigenetic influences on these disorders.

Kwok's career includes prior roles at Neuroscience Research Australia and ongoing leadership at the University of Sydney. His research group has been awarded substantial funding, including the NHMRC Boosting Dementia Research Grant for the BRAIN-MEND project (2018-2021, $529,967), which analyzes biological resources to identify new mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases, and an NHMRC Project Grant (2018-2021, $963,216) studying the role of mutant CYLD in frontotemporal dementia and motor neurone disease. Notable publications authored or co-authored by Kwok include "The major TMEM106B dementia risk allele affects TMEM106B protein levels, fibril formation, and myelin lipid homeostasis in the ageing human hippocampus" (2023), "Mendelian randomization implies no direct causal association between leukocyte telomere length and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis" (2020), "Age at symptom onset and death and disease duration in genetic frontotemporal dementia: an international retrospective cohort study" (2019), "Genetic and immunopathological analysis of CHCHD10 in Australian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia and transgenic TDP-43 mice" (2019), and "Retiring the term FTDP-17 as MAPT mutations are genetic forms of sporadic frontotemporal tauopathies" (2017). In 2023, he assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief of Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, enhancing his influence in the field. Through genetic screening, functional genomics, and international collaborations, Kwok contributes significantly to advancing knowledge and clinical translation in neurodegeneration.

Professional Email: john.kwok@sydney.edu.au