Dementia Researcher Blogs

Dr Becky Carlyle narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.

Failure in academia gets treated here as a structural problem before it gets treated as a personal one. The starting point is that this is one of very few careers where a run of setbacks can genuinely end the job, so the emotional weight attached to ordinary professional rejection is not a resilience deficit, it is a symptom of the environment. From there the focus shifts to what group leaders can actually do. Being open enough about small mistakes that they get discussed rather than hidden.

Training junior team members properly so they can ask the questions they think are stupid. And the harder one: how you react on the day someone drops a stack of unlabelled sample plates, or damages an ultracentrifuge rotor beyond repair. Two contrasting stories cover exactly that, and the difference in lab atmosphere afterwards lasted months. Also here: the "Not Yet" board in Oxford where twenty rejections earns the team a dinner, CVs of failures, the case for the narrative CV, why putting on a brave face may be feeding burnout rates in academia, and when to hand someone to proper support rather than carrying it yourself.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-building-labs-where-its-safe-to-fail/

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Dr Becky Carlyle is an Alzheimer's Research UK Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford and has previously worked in the USA. Becky writes about her experiences of starting up a research lab and progressing into a more senior research role. Becky's research uses mass spectrometry to quantify thousands of proteins in the brains and biofluids of people with dementia. Her lab is working on various projects, including work to compare brain tissue from people with dementia from Alzheimer’s Disease to tissue from people who have similar levels of Alzheimer’s Disease pathology but no memory problems. Becky is also a mum; she runs, drinks herbal teas and reads lots of books.

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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, whom we thank for their ongoing support.

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Emma Williams and Sue Williams discuss their work.

Emma and Sue have a job title that stops conversations. Public Advisor Researcher. They did not know what it meant when they applied, and two years on they are still explaining it to other people, including to public advisors who now think they have gone over to the other side. Both came to it through caring, Emma for her Mam who had frontotemporal dementia, Sue for her father and later for a close friend. Now they write topic guides, recruit participants, run interviews and work on the analysis, while still being carers themselves. In this blog they set out what the role actually involves, what it costs them, and what an early career researcher can do to make a Public Advisor Researcher useful rather than decorative.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-what-is-a-public-advisor-researcher/

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Emma Williams and Sue Williams are Public Advisor Researchers at the University of Liverpool. Both came to dementia research through their personal experiences of supporting family members living with dementia and related conditions. They now use that lived experience alongside their growing research expertise to help shape dementia research, contributing to study design, recruitment, interviews and data analysis. Their work focuses particularly on ensuring the experiences of people affected by dementia are properly represented in research and in efforts to improve dementia care.

@denpru-qm.bsky.social

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Emily Spencer narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.

With her her viva date set and every working hour going into her thesis, Emily has also just returned to conference season for the first time since her maternity leave in 2023. At the International Psychogeriatric Association Congress in the Netherlands she gave an oral presentation on her conversation analytic study of advance care planning conversations between GPs, people with dementia, and their carers. In this blog she works through the layers of worry that came before it: pitching a niche method to a general audience, trusting the tech to play her video clips, presenting with poor eyesight that rules out speaker notes, and the dread of audience questions, all with her primary supervisor watching. What actually happened surprised her, and she explains why the experience has given her confidence for future talks and for defending her thesis. A good listen for anyone who has ever stood at a lectern convinced their work is too niche to interest anyone.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-overcoming-academic-conference-presentation-anxiety/

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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 previously 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.

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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, whom we thank for their ongoing support.

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Adam Smith narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.

Publishing the paper is not the finish line, it is where the work of being read actually starts. Adam looks at what happens to research once it lands in a journal, why some of it gets noticed and a lot of it does not, and what researchers can do about that without turning themselves into a personal brand. There are some uncomfortable observations along the way about conference talks, LinkedIn, and the phrase "raising awareness", plus a couple of figures from Dementia Researcher's own channels that even he cannot fully explain. If you have ever wondered whether time spent talking about your work is time stolen from doing it, this one is worth ten minutes.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-good-research-still-needs-an-audience/

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Adam Smith was born in the north, a long time ago. He wanted to write books, but ended up working in the NHS and at the Department of Health. He is now Programme Director for Dementia Researcher at University College London. He has led several initiatives to improve dementia research (including this website, Join Dementia Research & ENRICH), while also pursuing his own research interests. In his spare time, he spends most of his time drinking too much coffee and squeezing technology into his house.

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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.

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Dr Yvonne Couch narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.

Do we actually need to teach Gen Z differently, or do they just need to grow up a bit? Yvonne read a Times Higher Ed article that annoyed her enough to annoy several colleagues with it, and this blog is what came out. She is not convinced by shorter lectures with cliffhangers. She is much more interested in what happens when you hand third years a hypothetical million pounds and ask them what they would do with it. Along the way she tests one of her own essay questions on ChatGPT, and finds the gap that matters.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-pedagogy-for-gen-z/

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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. Her passion for problem-solving and love of science drive her to advance our knowledge of disease. Yvonne shares her opinions, talks about science and explores different career topics in her monthly blogs - she does a great job of narrating, too.

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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, whom we thank for their ongoing support.

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Dr Lindsey Sinclair narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.

Is time invested in something really time wasted if you don't win? A comment overheard at a rowing regatta set Lindsey thinking about what sport has given her career in science, beyond callouses and a dodgy shoulder. A former school sport hater turned qualified coach, Lindsey maps the anatomy of a 2000m race onto the life of a research project, from crew selection to the final push for the line, and makes the case that some of the most useful research skills are learned nowhere near a lab. There's also a lovely rowing tradition at the finish that every scientist could borrow.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-what-sport-can-teach-science/

Dr Lindsey Sinclair is an Associate Professor and Clinical Academic in Old Age Psychiatry at the University of Southampton. Her research explores the relationship between depression and dementia, combining lab work with epidemiology and genetics. Clinically, she works with older adults experiencing a wide range of mental health problems. Outside of work, she’s a keen baker and runner, and has a particular talent for creating ambitious birthday cakes.

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Rahul Sidhu narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.

Does lifting weights actually protect your brain, and is creatine the brain supplement the gym world thinks it is? Rahul goes through what the evidence really supports, from insulin sensitivity and inflammation to blood flow, which happens to be his own PhD specialism. He is even-handed about creatine too: promising in the lab, far shakier once you get to human trials. Worth a read before you order another tub.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-weightlifting-and-creatine-on-brain-health/

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​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.​ Find Rahul on LinkedIn

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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, whom we thank for their ongoing support.

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Dr Ajantha Abey narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.

There are already about a thousand blogs telling you to pace yourself and embrace failure. This is not one of them. Ajantha has written up the unglamorous systems he either set up early in his PhD and still thanks his past self for, or wishes he had. Experiment numbering. File names that actually tell you something. One place for every note. A reference manager with tags that earn their keep. Figures made as you go rather than in a panic at the end. Plus a spreadsheet he cheerfully describes as a colour-coded monument to procrastination. None of it will save you from a failed experiment. All of it will save the version of you who is three years down the line, trying to work out what on earth happened in experiment 17.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-research-habits-i-wish-id-started-earlier-in-my-phd/

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Dr Ajantha Abey is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Kavli Institute at University of Oxford. He is interested in the cellular mechanisms of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other diseases of the ageing brain. Previously, having previoulsy explored neuropathology in dogs with dementia and potential stem cell replacement therapies. He now uses induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons to try and model selective neuronal vulnerability: the phenomenon where some cells die but others remain resilient to neurodegenerative diseases.

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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, whom we thank for their ongoing support.

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Dr Clíona Farrell narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.

After a long week at AAIC in London, Clíona swapped the conference hall for the Bloomsbury Theatre and a one-woman cabaret called Unforgettable. It tells the story of Tamara, who lost her father to familial young-onset Alzheimer's at 45, and who lives with a 50% chance of carrying the same mutation. What Clíona expected to be an evening of tears turned out to be funny, dynamic and strange in the best way, with a bubble machine, a lit-up hula hoop and a family horse among the cast of characters. But it also landed somewhere personal. Clíona carries her own family experience of an autosomal dominant condition, and watching Tamara perform the agonising question of whether to get genetic testing made her rethink what her research is really for. A blog about grief, dark comedy, and why public engagement has to be a two-way conversation.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-an-alzheimers-cabaret/

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Dr Clíona Farrell is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London. Her work focuses on understanding neuroinflammation in Down syndrome, both prior to, and in response to, Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Clíona completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience in Trinity College, and then worked as a research assistant in the Royal College of Surgeons studying ALS and Parkinson’s disease. She also knows the secret behind scooping the perfect 99 ice-cream cone.

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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.

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Dr Connor Richardson narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.

Ask most people what causes dementia, and they will reach for amyloid and tau. But there is another contributor sitting behind almost half of all cases worldwide, and it rarely gets the attention its scale deserves. Connor introduces cerebral small vessel disease: what it does to the tiny vessels deep in the brain, why it so often travels alongside Alzheimer's rather than on its own, and what recent imaging work suggests about spotting the people most at risk before decline sets in. There is a hopeful thread running through it, too, because the main risk factors are ones we already know how to treat.

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-small-vessel-disease-a-quiet-driver-of-dementia/

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Dr Connor Richardson is a Neuro-epidemiology Research Associate at The University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on 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.

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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, whom we thank for their ongoing support.

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