Dementia Researcher Blogs

Dr Connor Richardson - Am I in “Career Drift Mode?”

Dr Connor Richardson narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Career drift can happen when you proceed on your professional career course with no plan, or when a career strategy goes awry due to conditions beyond your control (like a pandemic.... or in academia... a lack of funding maybe?). It is easy to become reactive and stop being proactive career moves, taking the next job because it was offered (without building toward long-term goals) and now you feel stuck. Well, that's kind of how Connor felt in 2022, coming out of the pandemic, but could 2023 be a new year? Was that period of drift actually useful, and was 2022 all bad? Questions he answers in this blog.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-am-i-in-career-drift-mode/
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Dr Connor Richardson is a Neuro-epidemiology Research Associate 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 - Writing a paper with lots of co-authors

Dr Anna Volkmer, narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Success in academia if often measured in papers. And the best papers seem to be those with about a million authors on them. Writing anything down on paper seems daunting enough without having to share it with a bunch of others who are going to give their judgement (using the edit and comment function on word – which makes everything a horrifying red). And this is all before you even submit anything to the dreaded journal reviewers. So, how does one manage this as a lowly ECR? Over the years Anna has developed a couple of tricks that she finds useful - and in this blog she shares them (it would be great to hear yours too - add them to the comments).
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-writing-a-paper-with-lots-of-co-authors/
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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 Clarissa Giebel - Public Involvement & Engagement in Research

Dr Clarissa Giebel narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
You will have come across the term PPIE, or Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement. It is a given that we involve people affected by a condition, so for us, dementia, in our research design and development, conduct, and dissemination. And that is not restricted to dementia of course. PPIE needs to be embedded in any health and social care research, because how else do we know that we as researchers really address the issues that are most important, and urgent, to those with lived experience? In this blog Clarissa takes us through her advise for great PPIE.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-public-involvement-engagement-in-research/
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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@nihr.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 Aida Suárez-Gonzalez - Building positive narratives about dementia

Dr Aida Suárez-Gonzalez narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Aida has just been awarded UCL Global Engagement Funds (GEF) for a project to co-produce positive narratives about dementia. The GEF are an exciting seed funding scheme for all sorts of global engagement ideas. In Aida's project, she plans to partne with collaborators at Princeton University and the University of South Carolina. The aim being to co-create an Oliver Sack’s style book about people with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and dementia with lewy bodies (DLB). And publish it - in this blog Aida shares her journey of selling the idea and applying for the UCL Global Engagement funds.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-building-positive-narratives-about-dementia/
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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 Kamar Ameen-Ali - Peer Reviewing Grant Applications

Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Kam was recently asked to peer review a grant by a major UK research funder. This was not something she had been asked to do before, and it made her realise the sheer number of tasks required of us in academia that we simply get zero training or guidance on. In this blog, Kamar pulls together her experience of grant peer reviewing and provides guidance that will hopefully be helpful to other new reviewers.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-peer-reviewing-grant-applications/
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Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali is a Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Teesside University & Affiliate Researcher at Glasgow University. In addition to teaching, Kamar is exploring how neuroinflammation following traumatic brain injury contributes to the progression of neurodegenerative diseases that lead to dementia. Having first pursued a career as an NHS Psychologist, Kamar went back to University in Durham to look at rodent behavioural tasks to completed her PhD, and then worked as a regional Programme Manager for NC3Rs.
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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.

Beth Eyre - Writing a fellowship application

Beth Eyre narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Not only is this the year I will Beth be finishing her PhD training, but this was also the year she had a go at writing her first ever fellowship application. Writing your first applicatoin can be a hard slog (which is probably why so many people take a gap year between PhD and Fellowship and explore a ready-made postdoc position). Beth says she is very lucky, because she has extremely helpful supervisors to provide lots of advice along the way. So in this blog, Beth shares some of the ins and outs of the process. Because let’s be honest, there are many things within academia that we have no idea about until we actually have to do them – and fellowship applications certainly fall into that category!
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-writing-a-fellowship-application/
We're always on the look out for new contributors, if you would like to write and narrate your own blog - drop us a line to dementiaresearcher@nihr.ac.uk
Don't forget to also listen to our fortnightly podcast, just look for Dementia Researcher in your podcast app.
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Beth Eyre is a PhD Student at The University of Sheffield, researching Neurovascular and cognitive function in preclinical models of Alzheimer’s disease. Beth has a background in psychology, where she gained her degree from the University of Leeds. Inside and outside the lab, Beth loves sharing her science and in her blogs she discusses her work, career and shares lessons she learns as she navigates life as an early career researcher.
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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 Yvonne Couch - Procrastination the Thief of Time

Dr Yvonne Couch, narrates her blog written for the Dementia Researcher website.
Yvonne has recently been doing a lot of procrastinating, and not a lot of grant writing. In fact as she writes this, she should be either in the lab or writing a grant and yet she is not! Instead she is writing and narrating this blog. When talking to a friend about the challenge, they replied that they thought procrastination was often a response to trauma. Not big car crash, death of a loved one trauma. But trauma, nevertheless. And it got Yvonne to thinking about why we procrastinate, more importantly why she procrastinates, and whether there’s anything we can do about it.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-procrastination-the-thief-of-time/
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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.
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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 - The value of academic travel and face-to-face networking

Dr Clarissa Giebel narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
It’s only taken 2.5 years for Clarissa to finally go out to Australia as part of her Wellcome Trust funding. There was a time when she thought it would never happen, but it finally became possible to connect in real life with some researchers she has worked with remotely on routine data in dementia care, and to meet a great number of brilliant minds over there. In this blog Clarissa talks about the trip and reflects on the benefits of networking and overseas collaborations.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-the-value-of-academic-travel-and-face-to-face-networking/
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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@nihr.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.
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Note - Dementia Researcher understands the benefits of international travel to support conference attendance and collaborations. However, we want to make you aware that a return flight from London to Singapore creates 3 tonnes of CO2 per passenger. That’s the equivalent of heating a family home for a year. Please consider offsetting your flights when international travel is essential, and take the train when you can. Find more information at https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/airlines/article/carbon-offsetting-how-to-reduce-the-impact-of-flying-abuH44x4FeWn

Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali blog - Why ECRs need good mentors

Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Recent years have seen various mentoring schemes pop up in academia both within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), and through organisations and charities. This has, in part, been in response to a changing landscape over the last decade or so, which has seen an increase in precarious contract-based employment for early career researchers (ECRs), resulting in many talented scientists leaving academia for better-paid secure employment where they feel valued. In this blog Kam shares her experience of being part of two different mentoring schemes and discusses why ECRs need good mentors.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-why-ecrs-need-good-mentors/
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Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali is a Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Teesside University & Affiliate Researcher at Glasgow University. In addition to teaching, Kamar is exploring how neuroinflammation following traumatic brain injury contributes to the progression of neurodegenerative diseases that lead to dementia. Having first pursued a career as an NHS Psychologist, Kamar went back to University in Durham to look at rodent behavioural tasks to completed her PhD, and then worked as a regional Programme Manager for NC3Rs.
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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.