In this episode of the Dementia Researcher podcast, host Dr Amanda Heslegrave leads an insightful discussion on one of the most promising developments in dementia diagnostics: blood-based biomarkers.

Once a purely research-focused tool, these tests are now moving closer to clinical practice, offering the possibility of earlier, easier, and less invasive diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. But while the science advances rapidly, questions remain about how ready the healthcare system is to adopt them.

Amanda is joined by two expert guests:

Dr Jay Amin, University of Southampton – A clinician specialising in dementia, researching inflammation and immune biomarkers, particularly focused on diagnostics and prognosis.

Dr Mark Roskey, Quanterix – Senior VP involved in developing ultra-sensitive biomarker detection technologies crucial for dementia research.

Together, they explore the current state of play—from recent breakthroughs in markers like p-Tau217 to practical hurdles such as infrastructure, standardisation, and clinician education. They also reflect on ethical considerations surrounding early diagnosis and the importance of cross-sector collaboration to ensure these tools benefit as many people as possible.

Topics Covered:

• The current landscape and promise of blood-based biomarkers
• Recent scientific and technological breakthroughs
• Barriers to clinical implementation and public adoption
• Ethical questions around early diagnosis

A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk.

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We gratefully acknowledge the support of our funders: Alzheimer’s Association, Race Against Dementia, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

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