Professor Adam Vogel
A speech pathologist and researcher whose work is defined by a 20-year commitment to improving the lives of those with complex neurodegenerative conditions.
Adam Vogel PhD is the Chief Science Officer and Founder of Redenlab. He currently serves as CEO and leads Redenlab’s speech testing and analysis work. He is also Director of the Centre for Neuroscience of Speech at The University of Melbourne, Australia and maintains strong research alliances with the leading clinical centres in Australia, Europe and the United States.
Adam’s career began in psychology, but a desire for tangible patient outcomes led him to specialise in the science of speech and swallowing. From the halls of London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital to the multidisciplinary clinics of Melbourne, he has spent over 20 years mastering the complexities of neurodegenerative communication disorders. Now a global leader in the field, Adam balances high-level academic research with his work at Redenlab, a company dedicated to revolutionising speech assessment technology across the globe.
A unique aspect of Adam’s life is his professional partnership with his wife, Professor Angela Morgan, a leader in speech research and a respected member of BDSRA Australia’s Medical and Scientific Board. To maintain a healthy work-life balance, the two have deliberately carved out complementary rather than overlapping research niches. While Angela focuses on the early frontiers of gene discovery and pediatric phenotypes, Adam works closely with industry partners to develop meaningful clinical endpoints. At home, they tend to leave the work talks behind, though Adam admits he is constantly inspired by Angela’s groundbreaking research.
Adam’s involvement in Batten disease research is a testament to the power of collaboration and community. While he acknowledges that his connection to Batten disease came through collaborative programs rather than direct clinical practice, he recognises the shared struggle of all families navigating progressive ultra rare diseases. His work focuses on creating meaningful communication outcome measures specifically for these populations. He understands that for families living with the isolation of rare disease subtypes, the most important goal isn't always a distant cure, but rather incremental improvements that make life more manageable. By providing drug companies with sophisticated tools to measure patient improvements, Adam is helping to clear the path for more effective treatments.
One of Adam’s proudest professional milestones is the founding of Redenlab. This venture was born from a desire to see research achieve its "ultimate transaction" that is getting science into the hands of those who need it. Though he jokes that the journey has earned him a few grey hairs, the impact is undeniable: his technology is now used in 600 sites across 52 languages, reaching over 16,000 people. This global reach ensures that the same high-quality speech assessments used in major clinical trials are accessible everywhere. For Adam, seeing people pay for and utilise science is the most gratifying evidence that his work has transitioned from a lab-based idea to a real-world tool.
When asked about his future ambitions, Adam says,
“The thing I want to solve in the future is being able to measure communication in a meaningful way in these super challenging rare diseases like Batten Disease, and that's not just because this is a BDSRA interview, it's actually one of the targets. So we are really focusing on rare degenerative or progressive disorders and being able to capture meaningful outcomes that otherwise are missed in standard clinical assessments.”
Central to Adam’s philosophy is the vital role of philanthropic organisations like BDSRA Australia. He views small community grants not just as financial support, but as essential catalysts. Adam describes these donations using an analogy of multiplication: a $14,000 grant for pilot data, such as that from BDSRA Australia in 2022, can act as a proof-of-concept, yield pivotal publications (such as Speech, Language and Non-verbal Communication in CLN2 and CLN3 Batten Disease, and eventually may unlock $1 million or more in government grants like NHMRC or NIH. These early seed investments are often what commit young researchers to a specific disease group for their entire careers. Without this support, many breakthroughs including critical papers by PhD students or the preliminary data needed for larger clinical trials simply would not happen. “So every dollar that you contribute might actually be worth ten times that in the end, because it allows the researcher to then get larger pockets of money”, he added.
Adam’s vision for the next generation of children with Batten disease is focused on improving quality of life. He advocates for prioritising attainable, meaningful outcomes that allow children to maintain dignity and connection to their families. To the parents currently navigating a diagnosis, Adam’s message is simple: there is a dedicated team of researchers behind the scenes who truly care, who are alongside you in this struggle, and who are working every day to turn scientific findings into lasting solutions.
This article has been written by our Project Support Officer, Tahmina Tabassum PhD, based on Prof Vogel's Researcher Spotlight interview on 7th May 2026.