Dementia Researcher

PhD students today face more challenges than most professors ever did. The supervisor has mentoring responsibilities beyond academic performance, including the student's well-being. But can does your mentoring have to only come from your supervisor or manager? And what if you have finished your PhD, where do you turn? And how can mentoring help, how do you find the right balance between supervision and mentoring, and how can that be applied to you and your career? In this weeks podcast Megan O’Hare talks with Dr Ivan Koychev and Dr Christoph Mueller from the University of Oxford about the challenges, benefits and practicalities of mentoring.

People with dementia face many challenges to their independence as the condition progresses, often increasingly relying on their caregivers for tasks which had previously been simpler, such as managing appointments and shopping lists. Many studies are looking at how technology can help. In this podcast Emma Harding and Dr Nicholas Firth talking to Megan O'Hare, discussing their cutting edge research and how they researched the use of Amazon Echo and new technologies to help people living with Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA).

Hindsight suffuses our working life, perhaps none more so than in research. Being as it is a process of discovery and learning of things we didn’t know. As such in many ways there will always be things we wish we’d known earlier.  Today we would like to discuss whether the investigative process brings with it complexities and uncertainties that are universal, and can therefore be shared with others as a means to avoid similar pitfalls - as our panel explore 'Things they wish they had known sooner'. In the chair we have Dr Amy Monaghan from the Alzheimer’s Research Drug Discovery Unit at University College London. Amy is joined by Dr Deborah Oliviera from the University of Nottingham, Hanna Isotalus from University of Bristol and Dr Mark Dallas a Lecturer in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience at the University of Reading.

This is our fourth and final podcasts recorded on location at the Alzheimer Association International Conference (AAIC) in Chicago. Each day we have been bringing you news and information from our panellists who are all presenting and attending the world largest dementia conference. Adam Smith the Dementia Researcher website Programme Lead for the NIHR is again hosting and today is joined by Katy Stubbs from Alzheimer’s Research UK, Nicholas Firth from University College London and James Quinn from THE University of Manchester. The panel discuss their work, and today’s highlights, including the news from Biogen and Eisai over the exciting trial results of #BAN2401, how the Gut, sleep and environmental pollutants could be important in #dementia – and James talks about Tau. We hope you enjoyed these podcast, from #AAIC18 – our next podcast will be out on Monday 6th August, when we will resume our usual fortnightly schedule. Please subscribe to our feed and share with your colleagues and friends using #ECRDe

This is the third and penultimate of our podcasts recorded on location at the Alzheimer Association International Conference (AAIC) in Chicago. Each day we will be bringing you news and information from our panellists who are all presenting and attending the world largest dementia conference. Adam Smith the Dementia Researcher website Programme Lead for the NIHR is again hosting and today is joined by Oz Ismail (aka Birthday Boy) and Yolanda Ohene both PhD Students at University College London and Isabel Castanho a PhD Student at Exeter University Medical School. The panel discuss their own presentations, and just how much the brain is like a fantastic water park. We also discuss their highlights from the third day here at the AAIC, including sessions on ‘Microbiome and the brain’ and the latest research on the impact of circadian rhythms. Oz and Isabel also share their experiences as ISTAART volunteers, whilst also encouraging others to consider supporting AAIC19. Tune in again tomorrow for day four, and

This is the first of our podcasts recorded on location at the Alzheimer Association International Conference (AAIC) in Chicago. Each day we will be bringing you news and information from our panellists who are all presenting and attending the world largest dementia conference. Today’s podcast is hosted by our own programme lead Adam Smith, he is joined by Dr Aoife Kiely from the Alzheimer’s Society, Dr Jack Rivers-Auty from Manchester University and Riona McArdle a PhD student from Newcastle University. The panel discuss their own presentations, the exuberant opening ceremony performance by the Chicago Boyz acrobatic team @ChicagoBoyzTeam, the fantastic research by Lennart Mucke from the Glasdstone institute on ‘Aberent Network Activity in AD, and preclinical investigation to clinical trials’, and other presentations and posters that caught their eye (including some scepticism on beers value in preventing dementia, and ‘Plaque-Out’ a nutraceutical supplement drink claiming to reduce b-amaloid (yes that’s ho

This is the second of our podcasts recorded on location at the Alzheimer Association International Conference (AAIC) in Chicago. Each day we will be bringing you news and information from our panellists who are all presenting and attending the world largest dementia conference. Today’s podcast is again hosted by our own programme lead Adam Smith (he is hosting them all week), he is joined by Sarah Gregory a study coordinator for the EPAD and Prevent studies at the University of Edinburgh, Nika Seblova a PhD student working on the casual effects of education on life-course cognitive ability and dementia at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Ivanna Pavisic who is a PhD student at University College London focusing on different neurocognitive assessments. The panel discuss their own presentations, if Chicago Pizza is real pizza…and their highlights from the second fantastic day here at the AAIC, including sessions on ‘Multimodal strategies for dementia prevention’ and the ‘aging brain and the risk for Alzh

This week we will be looking at ‘Working and studying in the UK. In the chair we have Dr Amy Monaghan from the Alzheimer’s Research Drug Discovery Unit at University College London. Amy is joined by Dr Deborah Oliviera from the University of Nottingham, Hanna Isotalus from University of Bristol and Raysa El Zein from Bournemouth University. All our panellists have made the leap to leave their home countries (Brazil, Lebanon and Finland) to live, study and work in the UK. Making a massive contribution to research here in the UK. Working abroad and travelling can be exciting, if a little scary. It's a big decision, but one which can be exciting and rewarding. But what is a really like? What should I think about? What challenges might you face? These hurdles may be the different infrastructures that provide grants and funding through to overcoming cultural issues a complex set of language barriers. Our panel today are all early career researchers from around the world. In this podcast we discuss their stories

A conference poster can be an effective networking tool, and an effective way to to articulately communicate your research. Sadly, too many posters fail to be really engaging, and turn into a mess of unintelligible data. With our panellists today we hope to offer guidance on how to produce a fantastic award winning conference poster, thinking about the abstract, scripting, concept, design, and logistics. In this podcast we welcome new host Francesa La Frenais, PhD Student from University College London. Frankie is joined by a panel of poster award winning Early Career Researchers, Dr Claire Durrant a Post Doc Researcher from University of Cambridge, Dr Aoife Kiely who works as a Research Communications Officer at Alzheimer’s Society and Physicist and PhD Student Yolanda Ohene also at University College London.

In this podcast Megan Calvert-O'Hare interviews Alys Griffiths, Rachael Kelley and Cara Sass from the Centre for Dementia Research at Leeds Beckett University. Research Fellows Alys and Rachael and PhD student Cara all work on studies aimed Improving Care & Support for People with Dementia. In podcast they talk about their most recent studies, including looking at the impact of sports-based reminiscence for men with dementia, the experiences of people receiving hospital based cancer treatment or residential care whilst living with comorbid cancer and dementia, and evaluating the impact of an 8-week carers training programme on health and well-being. They also discuss recently completed projects include the EPIC trial, which evaluated the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Dementia Care Mapping in care homes, the What Works? study, which explored effective ingredients to dementia training and education for the UK health and social care workforce, and an ethnographic study of the involvement of families

This weeks podcast is chaired by Dr Jo Barnes from University College London. Jo is joined by Dr Gemma Lace-Costigan from University of Salford, Dr Tammaryn Lashley from UCL and Dr Angelique Mavrodaris from University of Cambridge. ‘Work life balance’.... When that work is research, it brings with it an added layer of complexity. The way research posts are funded and delivered can make the decision to start a family or even have a 'life' difficult (assuming it’s a conscious decision, rather than a happy curve ball that life threw your way, and assuming you make it through the dreaded PhD years). Keeping the plates spinning is a challenge. Combine family and home life with the demands of the research process itself, and the funding, and it isn’t surprising to hear that career can impinge on family life too. So like all busy mums and dads, we find creative ways to manage, not just our time but the resonance that engaging in research can have on our way of living. And when you get the balance right… its fanta

Research occurs in a range of arenas, and places not all of which are clinical, or in an NHS setting. Sometimes the research itself may be about the environmental or geographical setting, or the care and impact by that place. Or it may just be the best and easiest way and best to engage with the participants are involved in the study. We know that dementia research is changing. Care, support, activity and environment are finally getting the much needed profile, and being seen as important as new drugs and other areas of science. This means we have to be prepared. An awareness for the context and settings of research and the subsequent application of results is vital. As more ECRs focus on research in these areas, understanding the differences in setting up, delivering and engaging with people in care homes, or in their own sitting rooms is important. We hope the panel in this weeks podcast can help. In the chair we have Megan Calvert-O'Hare from University College London and this week she is joined by Dr

In this Podcast, Chris Hardy from University College London chats to panellists Professor Simon Mead, Dr Adeel Razi also from UCL, and Dr David Llewellyn from Exeter University Medical School. Finding funding and grant writing is a much needed skill, and one that will be useful throughout your research career. There will be highs and lows. The need for insight, compelling argument and the hope of a novel outcome forms the basis for such applications. Finding the write funding call, and crafting a perfect application can be challenging, our panellists, have been on both sides of the process - writing applications, and as members of a grant review board. In this podcast our panel chat around the subject, sharing advice that will help any Early Career Researcher.

In this weeks podcast we will look at how research has evolved quite considerably from the days of single author papers to exciting collaborations between researchers in different institutions bringing their own skills to the table. The discussion is chaired by Dr Megan O'Hare and on the panel we have Dr James Dachtler from Durham University, Dr Eleftheria Pervolaraki from the University of Leeds and Dr Stephen Hall from the University of York.

It's a big decision isn't it? In this podcast we hope our panel can help you decide. Identifying an area of interest in working life, requires not only an awareness of where our own curiosity resides, but also an appreciation of the reality in which we can explore it. As such there is a certain degree of pragmatism in matching imaginative possibilities with practical actualities - and that includes finding funding, appropriate supervision, and location. In this weeks podcast our panel is chaired by Dr Charlotte Stoner, Research Associate from University College London. On the panel we have Christopher Madan from University of Nottingham, Angelique Mavrodaris a Clinical Research Fellow and Consultant in Public Health Medicine in Cambridge and Suzanne Hill a PhD student at University of Bradford.

For many years people with dementia have been prescribed anti-psychotic drugs to manage challenging behaviours and agitation. Even today the reliance on this medication is too high, however, attitudes have changed, and over the past 5 years or more there had been a drive to reduce the use of these medications. However, that left the question of ‘what’s the alternative’ this is where studies like MARQUE are so vitally important. In this podcast Francesca La Frenais, and Dr Penny Rapaport from the Division of Psychiatry at UCL talk about the MARQUE Study, and how their work is helping us to understand what causes agitation and how the interventions tested in this study are improving quality of life for those living with dementia, and helping carers.

Working life is inherently relational and in the case of doing a PhD, a specific and unique relation is that with your mentor or supervisor. Mutually nurturing this relationship, is key to success, or is it? In this weeks podcast, our panel explore how they have worked with, and managed their relationships with supervisors. How this develops over time, how you ensure your research is your own and their tips for success. This weeks host is Chris Hardy a Clinical neuroscience and Postdoc from University College London and the panellists are Jacki Stansfield a PhD working also at UCL, Robyn Dowlen, PhD Student at The University of Manchester and finally Lisa Thorpe a PhD Student, University of Chester. (Needless to say, they all have perfect relationships with their supervisors) Please share our podcasts using #ECRDementia and visit our website www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk where you will find lots of information and support for Early Career Dementia Researchers.

In podcast #2 from dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk we have a great panel line up, talking about 'Working with people with dementia and their carers'. The people behind the disease are at the centre of what we do as dementia researchers. Biomedical research often involves directly working with patients and carers. This offers a fantastic opportunity and some unique challenges. In this recording Amy Monaghan talks to Timothy Rittman from University of Cambridge and Addenbrookes Hospital, Kellie Morrissey from the Open Lab at Newcastle University and Yvette Vermee from the Department of Psychiatry at University College London. We hear how these three individuals work with people with dementia, how this benefits their work, how to prepare, and how to approach working with individuals challenged by their symptoms.

The first podcast brought to you by dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk a new website for early career researchers - everything you need, all in one place. This week’s title is 'Managing a clinical and research career - The life of a clinical academic is a constant balancing act between the demands of delivering patient care and the requirement of driving research relevant to that. Although they are complimentary, there is often a gap between basic science and clinical application to be traversed. In this recording Amy Monaghan talks to Timothy Rittman from University of Cambridge and Addenbrookes Hospital and Ione Woollacott and Akin Nihat from University College London and University College London Hospitals. We hear how these three individuals meet this challenge, and what advice they might have for others. Here are a few useful links referenced in todays recording: www.twitter.com/hashtag/cvoffailures?lang=en https://www.pocket-lint.com/apps/news/136472-what-is-slack-and-how-does-it-work https://www.thir