Dementia Researcher Blogs

Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali - What is an ‘Early Career Researcher’?

Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
One of the most significant and prevailing challenges in academia over the last 10 years or so, has centred around how best to support early career researchers (ECRs) in an evolving landscape which has increasingly shifted towards a reliance on temporary insecure contracts, increasing workloads, and real terms drop in salaries. The criteria for defining who falls under the category of ‘ECR’ varies across institutions and organisations, and this is important if we need to identify where support is needed, and who to provide it to. In this blog Kamar will be asking the question: What is an ECR?
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-what-is-an-early-career-researcher/
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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.

Dr Connor Richardson - Getting Involved in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Leadership

Dr Connor Richardson narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Welcome to this blog post about Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) leadership. EDI leadership is a crucial aspect of academic life, as it plays a significant role in shaping the culture, values, and practices of an organisation. It's all about creating a workplace environment that is inclusive and welcoming to all, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic. Connor recently took up the challenge and has got hands-on in EDI Leadership at Newcastle University and in this blog he talks about the how's and why's and what achievements have already been made - he hopes it might inspire you to do the same.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-getting-involved-in-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-edi-leadership/
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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.

Rebecca Williams - Apathy Research: Why Should We Bother?

Rebecca Williams, narrates her blog written for the Dementia Researcher website.
Did you know that Apathy represents an early marker of cognitive decline and brain changes in presymptomatic frontotemporal dementia? Did you also know that Apathy is particularly common in patients with behavioral variant frontal temporal lobe dementia (bvFTD), and is a disabling noncognitive symptom of dementia that has profound consequences for morbidity, mortality, and caregiver burden? In this blog Rebecca explains Apathy, and her research into understanding the condition in dementia.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-apathy-research-why-should-we-bother/
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Rebecca Williams is PhD student at the University of Cambridge. Though originally from ‘up North’ in a small town called Leigh, she did her undergraduate and masters at the University of Oxford before defecting to Cambridge for her doctorate researching Frontotemporal dementia and Apathy. She now spends her days collecting data from wonderful volunteers, and coding. Outside work, she plays board games, and is very crafty. @beccasue99
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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 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.