Steven J. Collins

Key facts

• The Florey researcher profile lists him as Director of the Australian National CJD Registry, Parkville campus.
• The University of Melbourne profile gives his position as Director, CJD Registry, Department of Medicine.
• As read on 16 October 2026 the registry page lists three co-directors: Steven Collins, Christiane Stehmann and Sarah Holper, plus a quality manager and research staff.
• The registry is under contract to the Commonwealth Department of Health, which has funded it since its 1993 start after the pituitary hormone program cases.
• In April 2024 the Australian Government announced AUD 3.02 million over five years for the registry to meet rising diagnostic demand; he was quoted as co-director.
• He is senior (last) author of the CDI national surveillance update to 31 December 2025, published 21 July 2026, which reports 788 domestic CSF specimens and 35 definite or probable cases in 2025 with no variant or iatrogenic CJD.
• The 2024 update (published 22 October 2025) reported 760 CSF specimens, 88 persons added to the register and neuropathology in 72 percent of suspected prion deaths.
• Senior author of a 2026 J Neuropathol Exp Neurol paper on a fixed brain seeded amplification assay to complement neuropathological diagnosis, with Lewis, Stehmann and McLean.
• Co-author of a 2025 book chapter on prion disease diagnostic biomarker utility in pre-symptomatic disease, and of a November 2025 Mol Neurobiol study of M1000 prions delivered to the hippocampus.
• Co-author of the September 2025 Brain multiomic study that prioritised 32 candidate sporadic CJD risk genes, with Mead, Collinge, Geschwind, Aguzzi, Zerr, Parchi, Appleby and others.
• Co-author of a 2024 study showing Alzheimer biomarker use at first referral sharpens differential diagnosis while excluding CJD.
• A 2025 CJD Foundation grant funds a University of Melbourne optometry project on retinal function as an early CJD biomarker; the university news excerpt names him as a collaborator and his profile lists the grant.
• Research Data Australia lists him as NHMRC principal investigator on prion protein N-terminus cleavage and surveillance intensity research, and participant on sporadic CJD strain type grants.
• An older bio excerpt credits him with developing and implementing the national CSF 14-3-3 referral test and holding an NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship (undated, unconfirmed).
• In a December 2023 Florey article he stated that about 85 percent of Australian cases are sporadic.

Timeline

1. 1993ANCJDR established, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health.
2. 1993Prospective national surveillance begins.
3. 2018Domestic registry grant listed on his profile.
4. 2023Florey marks 30 years of registry work; he is quoted on case numbers.
5. 2024Co-author of the Alzheimer biomarker and CJD exclusion study.
6. 2024AUD 3.02 million over five years announced for the registry.
7. 2025CJD Foundation retinal biomarker grant with University of Melbourne optometry.
8. 2025Surveillance update to end 2023 published.
9. 2025Brain multiomic sporadic CJD risk gene study published.
10. 2025Surveillance update to end 2024 published.
11. 2025M1000 prion hippocampus study published.
12. 2026Fixed brain seeded amplification assay paper published.
13. 2026Surveillance update to end 2025 published with him as senior author.
14. 2026Registry page lists him as one of three co-directors.