Dementia Researcher

This week Megan O'Hare interviews Emma Harding and Emilie Brotherhood, PhD students working on the Rare Dementia Support Impact study - a £3.5 million, five-year, multi-site collaboration research study into the value of multicomponent support groups for people living with or supporting someone with a rare form of dementia. They will discuss the 5 work packages involved but also the translation of all their work into other forms of dementia and the potential impact this could have on policy, particularly around financial support. More information on Rare Dementias and support can be found at http://www.raredementiasupport.org/ You can find out more about our panellists, and their work on our website www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk. A transcript of this podcast is also available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/podcast-rare-dementia-support-impact-study/ Like what you hear? Please review, like, and share our podcast - and don't forget to subscribe to ensure you never miss an epi

What's possible when a group of creative, motivated, self-driven qualitative researchers find each other? Only time will tell, but if the first meeting of this group is anything to go by, you can expect some quality outputs, which add real value and helping living with dementia. Dr Jemima Dooley (University of Bristol), Dr Sarah Griffiths, (University of Plymouth) and Anna Volkmer (University College London) work in the field of language and communications, an area which can be particularly challenging for people living with dementia. After become aware of each others work through social media, conferences and publications; they decided to come collaborate and invite others to join in. Adam Smith joined the groups inaugural meeting, and in this podcast he talks with Jemima and Sarah to understand how the meeting came about, what they hope to achieve and what comes next. We hope that by sharing this story, we can encourage others across the UK and the rest of the world to come together to and make a break

Sitting your viva is the culmination of years of work, to say it is a big moment is an understatement. If you are about to walk into your viva or you are at the beginning of the PhD journey, we have a panel of viva survivors to discuss tips, anecdotes and things they would do differently. Regular contributor Anna Volkmer is joined Dr Sarah Aldous, a Post-doctoral research associate at UCL, Dr James Fletcher, a Teaching Fellow at King’s College London and Dr Robyn Dowlen, Research Associate at the University of Manchester. To see profiles on all of our panellists, and to find more blogs and articles on taking your viva visit our website www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk A transcript of this podcast is available via our website, at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/podcast-preparing-for-your-viva/ If you would like to share your own experiences or discuss your research in a blog or on a podcast, drop us a line to adam.smith@nihr.ac.uk or find us on twitter @dem_researcher ____________ Join Dementi

Our panel today are talking about 'Thesis Writing', and by the end of the discussion we hope listeners will be inspired, perhaps realise they are not alone, have a few new ideas on approach and most importantly will be itching to get back to writing as opposed to finding every chore under the sun to do as a way of getting out of it (that includes looking at Facebook, cat videos, pairing socks and staring out of the window). Adam Smith (who is unable to ever keep recordings down to 30 minutes) talks with Dr Marianne Coleman, a research Orthopist from the University of Surrey, Dr Josie Jenkinson a Consultant Psychiatrist from Surrey and Maxine Mackintosh, a PhD student from UCL. To see profiles on all of our panellists, and to find more blogs and articles on writing visit our website www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk If you would like to share your own experiences or discuss your research in a blog or on a podcast, drop us a line to adam.smith@nihr.ac.uk or find us on twitter @dem_researcher PS did you kno

Welcome to this week's podcast, hosted by Oz Ismail. Oz is joined by Dr David Steadman, Yolanda Ohene and Christina Toomey who are all based in labs at University College London. The lab can be a home from home given the amount of time you can end up spending there - a place where late nights and early mornings are dictated by your experiments. A place filled with incredible highs (when your experiments work) and horrendous lows (when the experiment you have toiled on for months for some reason doesn’t work). Today's panel are discussing life in the lab, what works for them, and how they transitions from classroom to lab. We might even touch on the superstitions our panellists have for ensuring lab success! To see profiles on all of our panellists, and to find more blogs and articles on lab work, and even lab jobs visit our website www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk If you would like to share your own experiences or discuss your research in a blog or on a podcast, drop us a line to adam.smith@nihr.ac.uk o

Megan O'Hare talks to Ivanna Pavisic and Antoinette O’Connor about their different projects relating to ‘Longitudinal research study of familial Alzheimer’s disease' and the changes that occur at this clinically silent stage. Ivanna and Antoinette both work at the University College London, Dementia Research Centre which has had a longstanding research programme in autosomal dominantly inherited familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD) led by Professor Nick Fox. In this podcast they talk about how the study provides a unique opportunity to explore the presymptomatic period of AD as pathogenic mutations are effectively 100% penetrant and the age at onset is relatively consistent within families and they also talk about the use and need for reliable biomarkers and cognitive tests. You can find out more about our panellists, and their work on our website www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk Please take a moment to review, like and share our podcast - and don't forget to subscribe to ensure you never miss an episode.

In many of our podcasts we discuss research studies and the work of PhD students. Today we are looking at what for many is one step earlier in the path to academia and focusing on MSc programmes. MSc programmes can act as a tool for existing and new health and social care professionals who want to gain a specific qualification in working with people who have dementia, for others who work with people with dementia, and for anyone looking for a path into academia. Megan O'Hare talks to Catherine Quinn and Dr Ana Barbosa from the University of Bradford. Discussing their new MSc in Advanced Dementia Studies programme, and explain more generally what these programmes are about, who they are for, and what people will get out of them.

This week we are recording a daily podcast, sharing all the news and highlights from this years Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Los Angeles. Day Four (Final Day) - Adam Smith is joined by Dr James Pickett from Alzheimer's Society, Dr Claire Lancaster from the University of Oxford and Dr Emily Maguire from the UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to these podcasts and for listening. We hope they have been useful and interesting. The AAIC is a great event for Early Career Researchers, so we hope to see you there next year in Amsterdam. To get more news on the conference, visit their twitter feed with #AAIC19.

This week we are recording a daily podcast, sharing all the news and highlights from this years Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Los Angeles. Day Two - Adam Smith is joined by Dr Sara Imarisio from Alzheimer's Research UK, Riona McArdle from Newcastle University and Dr Astrid Suchy-Dicey from Washington State University. Check back at this time tomorrow for news from day two, and checkout the twitter feed with #AAIC19 to find more.

This week we are recording a daily podcast, sharing all the news and highlights from this years Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Los Angeles. Day Three - Adam Smith is joined by Robin Brisbourne from Alzheimer's Research UK, Dr Lucy Stirland from The University of Edinburgh and Thomas Doherty from Syneos Health. Check back at this time tomorrow for news from day four, and checkout the twitter feed with #AAIC19 to find more.

This week we are recording a daily podcast, sharing all the news and highlights from this years Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Los Angeles. Day One - Adam Smith is joined by Dr Clare Walton from Alzheimer's Society, Sarah Gregory from The University of Edinburgh and Dr James Quinn from Harvard Medical School. Check back at this time tomorrow for news from day two, and checkout the twitter feed with #AAIC19 to find more.

Open science, open access, publication timelines are all discussed in our podcast this week with PLOS ONE Associate Editor George Vousden and Research Manager Rui Maruricio at ARUK. PLOS ONE has launched a call-for-papers, inviting researchers to submit their latest research on the early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The impact of AD may be lessened by timely diagnosis, allowing access to care pathways and enabling planning for advanced care. Likewise, the ability to diagnose AD at its early stages is likely a prerequisite for the successful implementation of novel disease-modifying treatments. Submissions are welcome across all disciplines, including basic research, translational studies in animal models and studies in patient populations. https://collections.plos.org/s/alzheimersdisease

Last year the NIHR Office of the National Director for Dementia Research (that's us) launched ‘Dementia Researcher’, a new website and this podcast. The aim being to support early career dementia researchers. Bringing together researchers to talk about the topics that matter to them, and providing a platform to talk about, and share their work. Last month our podcast hit over 10,000 plays, with listeners coming from more than 50 countries - and that is all thanks to you, our listeners. To celebrate the event, we asked listeners to complete a short survey - to help us improve the podcast, and in return for completing, we promised to draw out the name of one of our lucky winners to win a fantastic pair of Sony WH-H900 Wireless Headphones. Professor Rossor, NIHR Director of Dementia Research said “The fantastic influx of new funding for dementia research has helped create a new generation of researchers. We hope that providing support for the community through the dementia researcher website and podcast help

As an Early Career Researcher, having an online profile is more than just 'being on twitter'. In this podcast our panellists Dr Lakshini Mendis, Dr Jack Rivers-Auty and Dr Kirsty McAleese discuss the importance of having an online presence as an ECR, what that might look like, all the different options, benefits and limitations. Later this week we will be celebrating 10,000 podcast plays. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast, like, comment and share - and if you would like to come into the studio to talk about your research, drop us a line via our website: www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk

This weeks podcast was recorded a few weeks ago at the Alzheimer's Research UK Conference in Harrogate. Dr Katie Stubbs speaks with Dr Katie Askew, Dr Mike Daniels and PhD student Makis Tzioras. This team are all based at the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh. Our special subject for this week is Microglia. For those listeners who don’t know, Microglia form part of the brain’s immune system and are key players in controlling brain health via multiple mechanisms. These mechanisms include releasing cytokines, phagocytosis of debris, synaptic pruning and forming the glio-vascular unit. In neurodegenerative diseases, like dementia, nearly all physiological microglial functions stray away from homeostasis and contribute to disease pathogenesis. So you can see why research in this field is important, and why it’s been such a hot topic at dementia research conferences this year. In the build up to celebrating 10,000 plays, we are asking listeners to complete our short survey to be in wi

Dr Megan Calvert-O'Hare is joined by Alzheimer's Society Research Champion Gillian Harrison, Professor Claudia Cooper from UCL and Professor David Sharp from Imperial College and the Dementia Research Institute. This special recording was made on location from the Alzheimer's Society Conference, at the end of day one. The group share news from the conference, and discuss their own work including the UK Dementia Research Institute Care and Technology programme and the NIDUS (New Interventions for Independence in Dementia) project. In the build up to celebrating 10,000 plays, we are asking listeners to complete our short survey to be in with a chance to win a great pair of high-end Sony Headphones. To find out more visit: https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/10000plays/ Please remember to like, subscribe and review our podcast.

Dr Aoife Kiely from Alzheimer's Society talks to Ruby Ali-Strayton, Journalist and Alzheimer's Society Research Champion, Dr Charlie Arber from UCL and Dr Claire Lancaster from the University of Oxford. This special recording was made on location from the Alzheimer's Society Conference, at the end of day two. The group share news from the conference, and discuss their own work including the latest in Stem Cell research at UCL and how the Game Changer Study is using smartphones to transform early detection of Alzheimer’s. In the build up to celebrating 10,000 plays, we are asking listeners to complete our short survey to be in with a chance to win a great pair of high-end Sony Headphones. To find out more visit: https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/10000plays/ Please remember to like, subscribe and review our podcast.

This week Dr Aoife Kiely from Alzheimer's Society and Dr Katie Subbs from Alzheimer's Research UK talk with Dr Kirsty McAleese and Dr Keeley Brookes about their work on Brains for Dementia Research. Brains for Dementia Research (BDR) was set up in 2007 to establish a network of brain bank facilities across England and Wales. It is now a ‘gold standard’ for brain tissue banking, linking six leading centres (based in London, Oxford, Newcastle, Bristol, Manchester and Cardiff) in a network of common standards, best practice and cooperation. This lays the foundation to enable the highest quality dementia research, which aims to find a cure for dementia. In each bank, people with mild cognitive impairment or a diagnosis of dementia, and healthy participants, are supported to donate their brain by specialist research nurses. This initiative is unique from other brain banks, as the memory, thinking and behaviour of each prospective donor are monitored throughout their later life through regular assessments. This

This weeks I have four early career researchers, who have all, very recently managed to successfully secure fellowships! It’s tough making post-doc applications, but with application deadlines for NIHR and ARUK looming, we thought this would be the perfect time to discuss (although maybe for the next round... if you take our panels advise). Dr Lashini Mendis talks with Dr Chris Hardy, Dr Kirsty McAleese, Dr Marianne Coleman and Dr Jack Rivers-Auty. All work in different fields of dementia research, and all shared their advice, tips and experiences of getting a fellowship. You can also read a blog we posted earlier this week on this topic, by Anna Volkmer - https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-looking-back-my-experiences-of-applying-for-my-fellowship/ You can find our podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud and Spotify, please remember to like, review and subscribe and if you would like to joins us for a recording please drop us a line via our website www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk

In this special podcast recording made on location from the Dementias Platform UK (DPUK) datathon at the University of Exeter, we discuss how ‘data’ is being used to push new frontiers in dementia research. Exploring what is happening at this ground breaking datathon, and how DPUK is working with researchers and scientists from different fields. Coming together to look at new ways to use cohort longitudinal data to tackle dementia, and potentially finding the causes, ways to better identify risks, improve diagnosis and beat dementia! Adam Smith talks with Richard Everson, Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Exeter, Dr Sarah Bauermeister a Senior Researcher and Senior Data Manager with the Dementias Platform UK at the University of Oxford and Dr Hadi Modarres a Data Scientist from Cognetivity. Form more information on DPUK, the datathon and future events visit their website https://www.dementiasplatform.uk. Finally, please remember to like, subscribe and share our podcast and visit our we