Overview
Background
Dr Emily McCann is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Neurorehabilitation, Ageing and Balance Research (UQ). Her work focuses on improving the measurement and understanding of movement, physical activity, and cognition in ageing and neurological populations to support better rehabilitation outcomes.
She completed her PhD in 2024 at the Queensland Brain Institute, where she investigated visuoperceptual impairments across multiple neurodegenerative conditions. Through this work, she developed a strong interest in the importance of early dementia diagnosis, particularly in Parkinson’s disease. At the UQ Centre for Clinical Research, she subsequently focused on the early identification of cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease, including contributions to the development of a Parkinson’s disease‑specific cognitive assessment toolkit. She is now extending this expertise into neurorehabilitation within UQ’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, with a focus on movement and functional outcomes in Parkinson’s disease and stroke.
Availability
- Dr Emily McCann is:
- Not available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor (Honours) of Cognitive Psychology, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy of Psychology (Clinical Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology), The University of Queensland
Works
Search Professor Emily McCann’s works on UQ eSpace
2026
Journal Article
Recommendations to improve healthcare service provision for cognitive impairment in people with Parkinson's disease: a mixed methods study of the lived experience expert perspective
Sriram, Deepa, Pourzinal, Dana, Bailey, Daniel X., Brooks, Deborah, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Yang, Jihyun, Page, Neil, McCann, Emily, Lobo, Elton H., King, James M., Mitchell, Leander K., Pachana, Nancy A. and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka N. (2026). Recommendations to improve healthcare service provision for cognitive impairment in people with Parkinson's disease: a mixed methods study of the lived experience expert perspective. Health Expectations, 29 (2) e70530, 1-13. doi: 10.1111/hex.70530
2026
Journal Article
Best practice guidelines for the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of cognitive disorders in Parkinson's disease
Pourzinal, Dana, Brooks, Deborah, Sriram, Deepa, Mccann, Emily, King, James M., Pachana, Nancy A., Shrubsole, Kirstine, Wood, Brian, Lehn, Alexander, Marsh, Rodney, Liddle, Jacki, Mitchell, Leander K., O'Sullivan, John D., Tan, Edwin C. K., Page, Neil, Lobo, Elton H., Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Lenzen, Sabrina and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2026). Best practice guidelines for the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of cognitive disorders in Parkinson's disease. Age and Ageing, 55 (3) afag063. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afag063
2025
Conference Publication
Feasibility, acceptability, and reliable tests for direct-to-home tele-neuropsychological assessment in older adults
King, James, Pourzinal, Dana, McCann, Emily, Hawes, Alexandra and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2025). Feasibility, acceptability, and reliable tests for direct-to-home tele-neuropsychological assessment in older adults. Psychology and Ageing Interest Group National Conference., Brisbane, QLD Australia, 28th November 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
The PDCogniCare Toolkit: Developing a harmonised neuropsychological toolkit specific to Parkinson’s Disease
McCann, Emily, Pourzinal, Dana, Sriram, Deepa, Mitchell, Leander K., Liddle, Jacki, Lehn, Alexander and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2025). The PDCogniCare Toolkit: Developing a harmonised neuropsychological toolkit specific to Parkinson’s Disease. Movement Disorders International Congress, Honolulu, HI United States, 5-9 October 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Improving diagnosis of dementia in Parkinson’s disease: PDCogniCare Australian Program
Dissanayaka, Nadeeka, Pourzinal, Dana, McCann, Emily, Lobo, Elton Henry Savio, Brooks, Deborah, Sriram, Deepa, Au, Tiffany, Mitchell, Leander K., Pachana, Nancy, Naismith, Sharon, Broome, Annette, Lehn, Alexander, Kelder, Anna, Liddle, Jacki, King, James, Marsh, Rodney, Robertson, Stuart, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Tinson, Helen, Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Wood, Brian, Worthy, Peter, Yang, Julia, Nestor, Peter J., Chatfield, Mark, Keramat, Syed Afroz, Tan, Edwin, Piccinini, Tomas, Beattie, Elizabeth ... O'Sullivan, John (2025). Improving diagnosis of dementia in Parkinson’s disease: PDCogniCare Australian Program. Movement Disorders International Congress, Honolulu, HI United States, 5-9 October 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Visual processing impairments are predictive of dementia in Lewy Body disease
McCann, Emily, Coleman, Felicia, Fazlollahi, Amir, Lee, Soohyun, O'Sullivan, John and Nestor, Peter J. (2025). Visual processing impairments are predictive of dementia in Lewy Body disease. Movement Disorders International Congress, Honolulu, HI, United States, 5-9 October 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Critical steps to enhance identification of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in Parkinson’s disease: PDCogniCare Australian Program.
Dissanayaka, Nadeeka, Pourzinal, Dana, McCann, Emily, Lobo, Elton Henry Savio, Brooks, Deborah, Sriram, Deepa, Au, Tiffany, Mitchell, Leander K., O'Sullivan, John, Naismith, Sharon, Broome, Annette, Lehn, Alexander, Kelder, Anna, Liddle, Jacki, King, James, Robertson, Stuart, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Tinson, Helen, Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Wood, Brian, Worthy, Peter, Yang, Jihuyn, Nestor, Peter, Chatfield, Mark, Keramat, Syed Afroz, Tan, Edwin, Piccinini, Tomas, Beattie, Elizabeth, Marsh, Rodney ... Pachana, Nancy (2025). Critical steps to enhance identification of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in Parkinson’s disease: PDCogniCare Australian Program.. International Psychogeriatric Association Congress, Kanazawa, Japan, 25-27 September 2025. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER.
2025
Conference Publication
Harmonising neuropsychological assessments to identify cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and critique
McCann, Emily, Pourzinal, Dana, Brooks, Deborah, Sriram, Deepa, Mitchell, Leander K., Pachana, Nancy A., King, James and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2025). Harmonising neuropsychological assessments to identify cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and critique. 7th Pacific Rim Conference, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 2-5 July 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Enhancing utility of neuropsychological evaluation for earlier and effective diagnosis of dementia in Parkinson’s disease: PDCogniCare Project
Dissanayaka, Nadeeka, Au, Tiffany, Beattie, Elizabeth, Brooks, Deborah, Broome, Annette, Byrne, Gerard, Chatfield, Mark, Lehn, Alexander, Kelderm, Anna, Liddle, Jacki, Keramat, Syed Afroz, King, James, Lobo, Elton Henry Savio, Marsh, Rodney, McCann, Emily, Naismith, Sharon, Nestor, Peter, O'Sullivan, John, Pachana, Nancy, Piccinini, Tomas, Pourzinal, Dana, Robertson, Stuart, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Spooner, Donna, Sriram, Deepa, Tan, Edwin, Tinson, Helen, Verreynne, Martie-Louise, Wood, Brian ... Mitchell, Leander K. (2025). Enhancing utility of neuropsychological evaluation for earlier and effective diagnosis of dementia in Parkinson’s disease: PDCogniCare Project. 7th Pacific Rim Conference, Brisbane, Qld Australia, 2-5 July 2025.
2025
Conference Publication
Developing Recommendations for Best Practice Guidelines for Cognitive Evaluation in Parkinson’s Disease: Insights from Lived Experience Experts
Sriram, Deepa, Pourzinal, Dana, Bailey, Daniel X., Brooks, Deborah, McCann, Emily and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka (2025). Developing Recommendations for Best Practice Guidelines for Cognitive Evaluation in Parkinson’s Disease: Insights from Lived Experience Experts. International Neuropsychological Society and the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 7th Pacific Rim Conference, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 2-5 July 2025.
2025
Journal Article
Evaluating evidence for a neuropsychological toolkit to predict cognitive decline in PD: a systematic review
Pourzinal, Dana, King, James, Sivakumaran, Kumareshan, Yang, Jihyun, McCann, Emily, Mitchell, Leander K., Brooks, Deborah, Lehn, Alexander, Liddle, Jacki, Pachana, Nancy A., Tinson, Helen, Shrubsole, Kirstine, Bailey, Daniel X. and Dissanayaka, Nadeeka N. (2025). Evaluating evidence for a neuropsychological toolkit to predict cognitive decline in PD: a systematic review. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 1-28. doi: 10.1080/13854046.2025.2511966
2025
Journal Article
Causal evidence for increased theta and gamma phase consistency in a parieto-frontal network during the maintenance of visual attention
Bradley, Claire, McCann, Emily, Nydam, Abbey S., Dux, Paul and Mattingley, Jason B. (2025). Causal evidence for increased theta and gamma phase consistency in a parieto-frontal network during the maintenance of visual attention. Neuropsychologia, 208 109079, 1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109079
2024
Other Outputs
The ‘what’ and ‘where’ of visual processing in neurodegeneration: the essential yet overlooked component of diagnostic testing in dementia
McCann, Emily (2024). The ‘what’ and ‘where’ of visual processing in neurodegeneration: the essential yet overlooked component of diagnostic testing in dementia. PhD Thesis, Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/04df1e7
2023
Journal Article
Pareidolias are a function of visuoperceptual impairment
McCann, Emily, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, O’Sullivan, John D. and Nestor, Peter J. (2023). Pareidolias are a function of visuoperceptual impairment. PLoS One, 18 (11) e0293942, 1-11. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293942
2023
Journal Article
Increased resolution of structural MRI at 3T improves estimation of regional cortical degeneration in individual dementia patients using surface thickness maps
Fazlollahi, Amir, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, McCann, Emily, Cloos, Martijn A., Bourgeat, Pierrick and Nestor, Peter J. (2023). Increased resolution of structural MRI at 3T improves estimation of regional cortical degeneration in individual dementia patients using surface thickness maps. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 95 (3), 1-10. doi: 10.3233/jad-230030
2023
Conference Publication
Significant diffusion MRI changes in the callosal genu in progressive supranuclear palsy compared to Lewy Body Diseases
Fazlollahi, Amir, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2023). Significant diffusion MRI changes in the callosal genu in progressive supranuclear palsy compared to Lewy Body Diseases. Australia Dementia Research Forum, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 29 - 31 May 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
The test of emotion recognition in social context (TERIC): A novel social cognition test for clinical practice
Flavell, Joshua, Coleman, Felicia, Lee, Soohyun, McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2023). The test of emotion recognition in social context (TERIC): A novel social cognition test for clinical practice. Australia Dementia Research Forum, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 29 - 31 May 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
Pareidolias are related to visuoperceptual ability
McCann, Emily, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, O'Sullivan, John and Nestor, Peter (2023). Pareidolias are related to visuoperceptual ability. Australia Dementia Research Forum, Gold Coast, QLD Australia, 29 - 31 May 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
Exploring visuoperception in Lewy body diseases
McCann, Emily, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia and Nestor, Peter (2023). Exploring visuoperception in Lewy body diseases. Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 28 March - 1 April 2023.
2023
Conference Publication
MRI Estimation of Iron Deposition Identifies Elevated Pallidal And Rubral Iron Levels In PSP Compared To Parkinson’s Disease
Fazlollahi, Amir, Lee, Soohyun, Coleman, Felicia, McCann, Emily and Nestor, Peter (2023). MRI Estimation of Iron Deposition Identifies Elevated Pallidal And Rubral Iron Levels In PSP Compared To Parkinson’s Disease. Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 28 March - 1 April 2023.
Media
Enquiries
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