Science is all about rigorous testing, empirical evidence, and painstaking documentation, right? But even in the most state-of-the-art labs, you'll find researchers who hold on to quirky rituals, lucky charms, or, dare we say it, superstitions.

In this podcast, Dr Yvonne Couch, Associate Professor at University of Oxford hosts a discussion that romps through the lighter side of scientific research by exploring the wonderful world of lab superstitions. From lucky pipettes to forbidden phrases, we're about to uncover the unofficial 'do's and don'ts' that researchers swear by, or at least, swear make for good anecdotes.

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This shows guests are:

Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali, Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Teeside University. In addition to teaching, Kam is interested in How neuroinflammation following traumatic brain injury contributes to the progression of neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s disease) that lead to dementia.

Dr Soraya Meftah, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the UK Dementia Research Institute at The University of Edinburgh. Soraya works in the space of Neurophysiology of dementia (synaptic, neuronal, network dysfunction).

Tabitha Broadbelt just completed her PhD at The University of Edinburgh and is now a Postdoctoral Researcher at the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unity at University of Oxford. In the Dupret Group, Tabitha uses optogenetics and large-scale single-unit recordings combined to study memory-guided behaviour.

Dr Lauren Walker is an Alzheimer’s Research UK Fellow at Newcastle University. Lauren complete her undergrad degree in Physiological Sciences, and worked in a technical role for 7 years before being inspired to return to study a PhD. Lauren now works in Neuropathology of Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

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Full biographies on all our guests and a transcript can be found on our website https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk

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This podcast is brought to you by University College London / UCLH NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in association with Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia who we thank for their ongoing support.