Dementia Researcher Blogs

Dementia Researcher
Dementia Researcher
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Dementia Researcher blogs are written and then narrated by the authors. Through this podcast channel, we share the narrations, so you can listen back where ever you get your podcasts, as well as on our website - careers, research and your science. Brought to you by www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk - everything you need, all in one place.

  1. 1d ago

    Lesley Cousland - Care Home Research: Getting the Balance Right

    Lesley Cousland narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. When eight research requests landed on care homes at around the same time, the team at ENRICH Scotland stopped to take stock. Each study made sense on its own, so what did they add up to for a busy home? In this blog Lesley looks at that question from three sides: the researcher chasing a recruitment target, the organisation passing requests along, and the care home deciding whether it has room to say yes. She considers what makes taking part worthwhile for a home, why “not now” deserves respect as an answer, and what researchers owe the people who gave their time once the study is over. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-care-home-research-getting-the-balance-right/ -- Lesley Cousland is a Clinical Studies Officer with the Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network and ENRICH Scotland. A retired mental health nurse with over 40 years’ experience, she now supports research in care homes, ensuring residents and staff help shape studies that matter to them. Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network on LinkedIn Leave us a Tip https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunityhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social Download and Register with our Community App: https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

    Lesley Cousland - Care Home Research: Getting the Balance Right

  2. 1d ago

    Rahul Sidhu & Prisha Sharma - From Research to Clinical

    Rahul Sidhu & Prisha Sharma narrate this blog written for Dementia Researcher. What changes when you stop studying neurological disease through experiments and start seeing what it does to people’s lives? Two researchers who started in the same place and ended up on different paths put that question to each other. One is still at the bench, working on preclinical models. The other moved through research into patient‑facing work with people living with brain injury and dementia. They talk about what surprised them, where the lab and clinic meet more than you’d expect, and what anyone torn between the two should think about before choosing. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-from-research-to-clinical-two-perspectives/ Authors: Prisha Sharma is an Assistant Psychologist at Brainkind, working in a neurobehavioural service that supports people with acquired and traumatic brain injuries. She studied Neuroscience at the University of Manchester and Applied Neuropsychology at the University of Bristol, and hopes to train on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and qualify as a Clinical Neuropsychologist. Rahul Sidhu is a PhD student at The University of Sheffield, focusing on the effects of heart disease on dementia in preclinical models of Alzheimer's disease. His research aims to uncover how cardiovascular health influences neurodegenerative conditions, potentially leading to novel therapeutic strategies. Leave us a Tip https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunityhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social Download and Register with our Community App: https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

    Rahul Sidhu & Prisha Sharma - From Research to Clinical

  3. 5d ago

    Beccy Owen - Beyond the Lab Bubble: Why PhD Teamwork Matters

    Beccy Owen narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. PhD life can shrink to the size of a lab bench. In this blog Beccy describes two experiences that took her well beyond it. The first was a week of kayaking, climbing and gorge walking in the Lake District with her doctoral training partnership. The second was a day explaining her research to Formula 1 fans while volunteering for Race Against Dementia at Silverstone. Between them, they changed how she thinks about teamwork, collaboration and communicating science. She makes the case that difference is what makes a team work, and that a PhD might be an individual qualification, but science is a team sport. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-beyond-the-lab-bubble-phd-teamwork/ -- Beccy Owen is a PhD Researcher at the University of Warwick, exploring how tau pathology disrupts neuronal ion channels and brain network activity in Alzheimer’s disease. As part of the Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Programme, her work uses electrophysiology to better understand the molecular drivers of neurodegeneration. Originally from the Welsh countryside, Beccy’s passion for dementia research was shaped during her postgraduate studies and through personal experience with a family member living with the condition. She will be sharing her journey, insights, and lessons learned throughout her PhD here on the blog. Find Becky on LinkedIn -- Enjoy listening? We're always looking for new bloggers, drop us a line. http://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk This podcast is brought to you by University College London in association with the National Institute for Health and Care Research, Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support. -- Leave us a Tip https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunityhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social Download and Register with our Community App: https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

    Beccy Owen - Beyond the Lab Bubble: Why PhD Teamwork Matters

  4. Oct 6

    Dr Connor Richardson - Does Rugby Cause Dementia? A Player-Epidemiologist's View

    Dr Connor Richardson narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher. An epidemiologist who still plays amateur rugby takes a hard look at the evidence linking the sport to dementia. Connor, sets the Scottish study of former internationals against a much larger New Zealand cohort and asks why their results differ so widely. The answer runs through how dementia gets recorded, why fit athletes live long enough to be diagnosed, and the difference between relative and absolute risk. He closes with what the research does and does not say about club players, and which changes to the game are worth making regardless. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-does-rugby-cause-dementia/ -- Dr Connor Richardson is a Neuro-epidemiology Research Associate at The University of Edinburgh. His research interests lie in using advanced statistical modelling and machine learning to measure dementia risk. Connor blogs about his research, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, and sometimes his Pomapoo’s. -- Enjoy listening? We're always looking for new bloggers, drop us a line. http://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk This podcast is brought to you by University College London in association with the National Institute for Health and Care Research, Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support. -- Leave us a Tip https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunityhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social Download and Register with our Community App: https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

    Dr Connor Richardson - Does Rugby Cause Dementia? A Player-Epidemiologist's View

  5. Oct 6

    Bernie McInally - Pandas, dementia and why we need to reach Early Career Researchers

    Bernie McInally narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher. A panda study that leaves out every panda in a zoo would be laughed out of peer review. Yet for years dementia research has done something very similar with care homes, where a large share of people living with dementia actually live. This blog looks at the warnings new researchers hear before they ever walk through a care home door: recruitment, ethics, capacity, busy staff, worried families. It asks whether those are reasons to stay away or simply parts of the job to plan for. Expect tea, reminiscence, a fair amount of custard, and a case for getting early career researchers into care homes rather than talking them out of it. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-pandas-dementia-and-why-we-need-to-reach-early-career-researchers/ Bernie McInally is a Clinical Studies Officer at NHS Lothian and the Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network. Bernie's background is in Nursing, working in Mental Health and with Older People. He retired from full time NHS clinical work, and is now back working in Clinical Research supporting delivery of the Enabling Research in Care Homes (ENRICH) Scotland. He is passionate about research delivery, and opening access to people in all communities. Leave us a Tip https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunityhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social Download and Register with our Community App: https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

    Bernie McInally - Pandas, dementia and why we need to reach Early Career Researchers

  6. Sep 30

    Dr Chloe Fawns-Ritchie - When research becomes your reality: dementia and cancer

    Dr Chloe Fawns-Ritchie narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. What happens when the health conditions you study for a living arrive in your own family? Chloe, researches why people age differently, and here she tells the story of her mum's dementia, diagnosed at 61. A heart attack followed, and then a late-found, advanced bowel cancer. The diagnosis took 18 months. Along the way came a screening test scored above the cut-off because it was administered wrongly. Later, dementia care and cancer care rarely seemed to speak to each other. The account shows how multimorbidity plays out in real care, and why people with dementia so often have cancer found late. It also covers what it means that drug trials routinely leave out people like her mum. Then it turns to the carer's side and the academic's side. Expertise turned out to offer little protection, and work was no use as a distraction. Productivity slipped, and grief now shows up in the data. It ends with a gentle death and a slow return to a job she once loved. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-when-your-research-becomes-your-reality/ Author Dr Chloe Fawns-Ritchie is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. Her research explores how cognitive function and health influence each other across the lifespan, why people experience different rates of cognitive decline, and what this means for everyday life. She specialises in cognitive assessment, with particular interests in cognitive ageing, chronic pain and the effects of medication on cognition. Leave us a Tip https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunityhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social Download and Register with our Community App: https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

    Dr Chloe Fawns-Ritchie - When research becomes your reality: dementia and cancer

  7. Sep 29

    Dr Yvonne Couch - Understanding Changes to UKRI Funding Strategy

    Dr Yvonne Couch narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. UKRI is changing how it assesses grants. The plans include fewer and longer awards, distributed peer review, triage by institutions before bids reach the funder, interviews for some awards, and a trial of AI-assisted assessment. In this blog Yvonne, weighs up what that means for researchers. Longer grants could bring real stability and more ambitious science. But the researchers caught between early-career schemes and programme grants may find the door narrower than ever. Drawing on Claartje Vinkenburg's work on "selling science", Yvonne argues that every assessment method selects for something: writing skill, institutional status or confidence. The real question is how closely any of them tracks the ability to do excellent research. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-ukri-grant-assessment-changes/ -- Dr Yvonne Couch is an Associate Professor of Neuroimmunology at the University of Oxford. Yvonne studies the role of extracellular vesicles and their role in changing the function of the vasculature after stroke, aiming to discover why the prevalence of dementia after stroke is three times higher than the average. It is her passion for problem solving and love of science that drives her, in advancing our knowledge of disease. Yvonne shares her opinions, talks about science and explores different careers topics in her monthly blogs - she does a great job of narrating too. -- Enjoy listening? We're always looking for new bloggers, drop us a line. http://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk This podcast is brought to you by University College London in association with the National Institute for Health and Care Research, Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support. -- Leave us a Tip https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunityhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social Download and Register with our Community App: https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

    Dr Yvonne Couch - Understanding Changes to UKRI Funding Strategy

  8. Sep 24

    Emily Spencer - From Dreading My Thesis to Loving Writing

    Emily Spencer narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. Plenty of PhD students would say writing is the part they dread most, and Emily said exactly that at her PhD interview. With submission now in sight, she describes how the thing she feared became the part of the job she enjoys most. Perfectionism, an inner critic with firm opinions and the pull of everything else competing for headspace all play a part. So does the unexpected help that came from returning after maternity leave with far less time to spare. She wrote it in the final hour of a residential writing retreat in North Yorkshire, and it makes a case for why getting away from the desk can pay for itself. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/learning-to-love-academic-writing/ -- Emily Spencer is a PhD Student at University College London looking at improving how GPs communicate with people with dementia and their family carers about their future care. Emily previous had a 5 year career break to pursue a career as a musician, and has previously undertaken research on improving the care people with dementia receive from their GP practice, as well as end-of-life and palliative care provision in the community. Emily is also a new mum and will be writing about her experiences navigating motherhood and a research career. -- Enjoy listening? We're always looking for new bloggers, drop us a line. http://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk This podcast is brought to you by University College London in association with the National Institute for Health and Care Research, Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support. -- Leave us a Tip https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/ https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunityhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher https://bsky.app/profile/dementiaresearcher.bsky.social Download and Register with our Community App: https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

    Emily Spencer - From Dreading My Thesis to Loving Writing
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Dementia Researcher blogs are written and then narrated by the authors. Through this podcast channel, we share the narrations, so you can listen back where ever you get your podcasts, as well as on our website - careers, research and your science. Brought to you by www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk - everything you need, all in one place.

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