Dementia Researcher Blogs

Dr Yvonne Couch - The Impact of a Paper

Dr Yvonne Couch, narrates her blog written for the Dementia Researcher website.
This week Yvonne was inspired by a new student - from a country that shall remain nameless, the student was telling Yvonne about the promotion system for medical octors in her home country. Basically, more papers = more likely to be promoted. This resulted in what the student described as ‘a lot of trash science’. So, in this blog Yvonne considers the publication industry, how it works, how papers become meaningful and have impact and what that might mean for your next paper. 
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-the-impact-of-a-paper/
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Dr Yvonne Couch is an Alzheimer's Research UK Fellow 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 writes about her work, academic life, and careers as she takes a new road into independent research @dr_yvonne_couch
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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 in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support.

Dr Clarissa Giebel - Sharing dementia knowledge and support with other countries

Dr Clarissa Giebel narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Freshly returned from her second visit to Colombia for her ESRC project into the impact of stressful life events on the mental health and well-being of older Colombians, Clarissa's mind is full of thoughts and ideas and also frustrations and sadness as to how little (if any) support family carers, people with dementia, and older adults receive in Colombia. In this blog Clarissa talks about the importance of sharing what we learn through our research, and how the spread and adoption of research findings can help others, particularly in other parts of the world with less investment in dementia research.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-sharing-dementia-knowledge-and-support-with-other-countries/
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Dr Clarissa Giebel is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool and NIHR ARC North West Coast. Clarissa has been working in dementia care research for over 10 years focusing her research on helping people with dementia to live at home independently and well for longer, addressing inequalities that people with dementia and carers can face. Outside of her day work, Clarissa has also organised a local dementia network - the Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Forum, and has recently started her own podcast called the Ageing Scientist.
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If you would like to write your own blog drop us a line, we're always on the look out for new contributors to write about their research, careers + more dementiaresearcher@ucl.ac.uk 
This podcast is brought to you in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support.

Hannah Hussain - Introduction to Psychometrics

Hannah Hussain narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
In this blog Hannah Hussain provides a whistle stop tour through some psychometric concepts. In a previous blog she discussed health outcomes – as her PhD is focused on how to use health-related quality of life data collected during dementia trials and studies. As part of her PhD, Hannah has reviewed specific psychometric properties of certain health-related quality of life measures for use in dementia populations, and she plans on using psychometric techniques within her analyses. As I have previously discussed, Hannah is a community pharmacist, her background, and learning of non-clinical academic concepts has been a steep learning curve for her. She hopes this blog is helpful to anyone else out there that may require a little introduction to the world of psychometrics (…just she did!).
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-introduction-to-psychometrics/
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Hannah Hussain is a PhD Student in Health Economics at The University of Sheffield. As a proud third generation  migrant and British-Asian, her career path has been linear and ever evolving, originally qualifying as a Pharmacist in Nottingham, then Health Economics in Birmingham. Her studies have opened a world into Psychology, Mental Health and other areas of health, and with that and personal influences she found her passion for dementia.
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This podcast is brought to you in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support.
Enjoy listening? We're always looking for new bloggers, drop us a line dementiaresearcher@ucl.ac.uk  

Dr Aida Suarez-Gonzalez - Dementia Research and Advocacy

Dr Aida Suárez-Gonzalez narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
There are many ways in which you can use your research and your knowledge to advocate. Aida encourages everyone to get better at public engagement. With your advocacy, you can contribute to fight discrimination and join a global movement to protect the human rights of people with dementia.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-dementia-research-and-advocacy/
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Dr Aida Suarez-Gonzalez is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Senior Research Fellow at the Dementia Research Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology at Queen Square. With many years clinical experience working in Spain, Aida now investigating non-pharmacological interventions, services and assistive technologies to support people living well with dementia.
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This podcast is brought to you in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support. Enjoy listening? We're always looking for new bloggers, drop us a line dementiaresearcher@ucl.ac.uk  

Dr Gaia Brezzo - Moving four-ward, could a 4-day working week work in academia?

Dr Gaia Brezzo narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Work smarter not harder – I am sure you have heard this phrase before. And if you work in academia, like Gaia, I am sure you probably shrugged it off, most likely thinking I need to work smarter AND harder. But do we really? And where does this working ethos come from? In this blog Gaia talks about the 4-day working week movement that has really taken traction following the pandemic, the remarkable benefits working a shorter week can bring for employees and employers and discuss if this could really work in academia and if so, what it would look like.  
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-moving-four-ward-could-a-4-day-working-week-work-in-academia/
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Dr Gaia Brezzo is a Research Fellow based within the UK Dementia Research Institute at The University of Edinburgh. Gaia's research focuses on understanding how immune alterations triggered by stroke shape chronic maladaptive neuroimmune responses that lead to post-stroke cognitive decline and vascular dementia. Raised in Italy, Gaia came to the UK to complete her undergraduate degree, and thankfully, stuck around. Gaia writes about her work and career challenges, when not biking her way up and down hills in Edinburgh. Follow Gaia on Twitter: @Gaia_Brezzo
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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 in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support.

Dr Timothy Daly - From Journal Clubs to Letter Writing for ECRs: Why and How

Dr Timothy Daly narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.
In this blog, Tim encourages early-career researchers (ECRs) in dementia research to build on their existing journal clubs or independent reading efforts to take the step towards publishing letters as part of their intellectual and professional development.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-from-journal-clubs-to-letter-writing-for-ecrs-why-and-how/
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Dr Timothy Daly is currently a Bioethics Training Programme Coordinator at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (“FLACSO“) Argentina; and holds a position at The Sorbonne, Paris, France. His research explores ethics in Alzheimer’s Disease: How can we do better research? Outside work he writes poetry, speaking four languages and is working on learning another four. His motivation to work in dementia stems from his seeing his grandmother live with Vascular Dementia and wanting to to help.
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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 in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support.

Dr Connor Richardson - My Path to an NIHR ARC Dementia Fellowship

Dr Connor Richardson narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Thinking about applying for a fellowship can be daunting and often feels like the next big pressure you face after finishing your PhD. Connor knows this as well as anyone, and he put-off deciding for 3 years. However, last year (after feeling the career drift mentioned in his last blog) he committed himself to go for it and has recently been awarded a 2-year NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Dementia Fellowship (partnered with Alzheimer's Society). In this blog, Connor reflects on preparing for the application, the application process and what he has learned from the experience.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-my-path-to-an-nihr-arc-dementia-fellowship/
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Dr Connor Richardson is a Neuro-epidemiology Research Associate (soon to be NIHR Research Fellow) in the Newcastle University Population Health Sciences Institute. Connor is the research statistician for the Cognitive Function and Ageing studies (CFAS) multi-centre population cohort. His research interest lies 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.
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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 in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support.

Dr Anna Volkmer - Every penny counts, small grant applications

Dr Anna Volkmer, narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Small research grants play an important role in supporting early-stage research (and early stage researchers), encouraging innovation, and advancing scientific knowledge. They provide flexibility and agility to pursue ideas that may be considered too risky or too exploratory for larger grants, and we all know what can grow from an acorn... In this blog Dr Anna Volkmer (now a quite senior researcher) is waiting for news from a small grant application, demonstrating that despite the time and effort, these small grants play an important role, a topic Anna discusses in this blog.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-every-penny-counts-small-grant-applications/
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Dr Anna Volkmer is a Speech and Language Therapist and researcher in Language and Cognition, Department of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London. Anna is researching Speech and language therapy interventions in language led dementia and was once voted scariest speech and language therapist (even her children agree).
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If you would like to write your own blog drop us a line, we're always on the look out for new contributors to write about their research, careers + more dementiaresearcher@ucl.ac.uk
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This podcast is brought to you in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support.

Dr Sam Moxon - Should we get paid for peer review?

Dr Sam Moxon, narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Did you know that the academic publication industry is more profitable than the music and film industry? We’re talking tens of billions of dollars. It’ s not a surprise when you consider that U.K. universities are estimated to spend hundreds of millions each year on publication fees. And that’s per university… So where does the money go, and should some of that find its way back into your pocket for peer review? Dr Sam Moxon explores in this blog.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-should-we-get-paid-for-peer-review/
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Dr Sam Moxon is a biomaterials scientist at the University of Manchester. His expertise falls on the interface between biology and engineering. His PhD focussed on regenerative medicine and he now works on trying to develop 3D bioprinting techniques with human stem cells, so that we better understand and treat degenerative diseases. Outside of the lab he hikes through the Lake District and is an expert on all things Disney.
Enjoy listening and reading our blogs? We're always on the look out for new contributors, drop us a line and share your own research and careers advice dementiaresearcher@nihr.ac.uk
This podcast is brought to you in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia, who we thank for their ongoing support.