Dementia Researcher Blogs
The Dementia Researcher Blogs Podcasts - through this show, you can hear our bloggers read their blogs. So if you prefer to read, you can head or our website or you can listen on the move. These shows are about academic / research careers, research, science and life as an early career dementia researchers. Brought to you by https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk - everything you need, all in one place. Remember to subscribe to our main ‘Dementia Researcher‘ Podcast, here and where ever you get your podcasts.
Episodes

Friday Dec 16, 2022
Dr Yvonne Couch - Prioritising
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Dr Yvonne Couch, narrates her blog written for the Dementia Researcher website.
OK so that title was really boring. Apologies. But on the upside, it’s super obvious what we’re going to talk about today. For this one, Yvonne was inspired by two things. A chat with a junior colleague (who will know who she is if she’s listening) and the amazing Lonely Pipette podcast episode with Jen Heemstra.
Yvonne approaches this topic in stages because it’s important to note is that what you prioritize and how you prioritize will change throughout your career.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-prioritising/
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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.

Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Dr Connor Richardson - My Research Career from Biochemistry to Biostatistics
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Dr Connor Richardson narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Connor is back to the second part of his introduction to the dementia researcher blog. In this piece Connor introduces himself as a researcher, with a tour of his career so far - with a great demonstration how one move, leads to the next.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-my-research-career-from-biochemistry-to-biostatistics/
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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.

Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Nathan Stephens - Addressing Market Failure: why we can’t let the market win
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Nathan Stephens narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Dementia is rarely considered a market issue, well at least not explicitly. Yet the unequitable distribution of care and support, cost of care and unpaid care, and inequality of information are symptoms of a ‘failed market’. This is according to the Treasury’s Green Book which identifies four domains of market failure: under-provision of public goods/services, imperfect information about goods/services, externalities, and market or monopoly power. In this blog Nathan discusses the issues.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-addressing-market-failure-why-we-cant-let-the-market-win/
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Nathan Stephens is a PhD Student and unpaid carer, working on his PhD at University of Worcester, studying the Worcestershire Meeting Centres Community Support Programme. Inspired by caring for both grandparents and personal experience of dementia, Nathan has gone from a BSc in Sports & Physical Education, an MSc in Public Health, and now working on his PhD.
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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.

Friday Dec 09, 2022
Dr Sam Moxon - Looking back on 2022: A year of change
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Dr Sam Moxon, narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher.
It’s that time of year again. Time to go “really?! End of the year already?!” The time where you maybe take a second to look back on the year and reflect on what has happened, what maybe didn’t happen and what you want to do next year to keep moving forwards. That’s Sam's topic for this month and he hopes you will join him for the ride and maybe spend a little time afterwards thinking about this year and what you want to carry forwards into the next one. It’s a personal blog it’s a good thing to do when this time of year rolls around - self-reflection as a tool for improvement.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-looking-back-on-2022-a-year-of-change/
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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.

Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Dr Clarissa Giebel - INTERDEM Taskforce exploring Inequalities in Care
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Dr Clarissa Giebel narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
In October, we were finally able to attend the Alzheimer’s Europe Conference in person again. Each year the INTERDEM – a European network of dementia researchers focusing on Early detection and timely INTERvention in DEMentia, take the oppertunity to meet. In this blog Clarissa discusses a new initative to research Inequalities in Dementia Care.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-interdem-taskforce-exploring-inequalities-in-care/
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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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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.
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

Monday Dec 05, 2022
Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali - Should failure be normalised in academia?
Monday Dec 05, 2022
Monday Dec 05, 2022
Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Kam is currently in the depths of that feeling most, if not all, academics experience throughout their careers, the feeling of failing. Three hits in as many months is enough to give anyone pause for thought! A grant application that doesn't get through to the next round, failure to get a paper published, and then an internal grant rejection. There are so many ways to fail in academia, and so many of us experience failure, often repeatedly. So in this month’s blog Kam asks the question: should failure be normalised in academia?
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-should-failure-be-normalised-in-academia/
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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.

Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Dr Gaia Brezzo - Early career research events: to attend or not to attend?
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Dr Gaia Brezzo narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
Gaia is planning to attend an early career (ECR) event in person early next month. Even as a postdoc with quite a few years of experience under her belt, she still has that niggling feeling of guilt when she takes time away from the lab and the foreboding anxious wait to see if it was actually worth it. In this blog Gaia shares her thoughts on attending these types of events, what can be gained from them, why some of us might feel guilty attending and some tips to help you decide if that ECR event really is worth your time.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-early-career-research-events-to-attend-or-not-to-attend/
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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 Research UK and Alzheimer's Society, who we thank for their ongoing support.

Friday Nov 25, 2022
Dr Yvonne Couch - Stem Cells
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Dr Yvonne Couch, narrates her blog written for the Dementia Researcher website.
Today Yvonne is talking science for, not opinions (although a few may creep in). This particular post was inspired by her recent attendance at an ARUK event. Almost everyone attending was working on clinical cohorts and everyone else, with the exception of Yvonne, was working on iPSCs. So today's blog is about induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC); what they are, why people use them and what they could be used for in dementia research.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-stem-cells/
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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.
_____________________________________________________
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. http://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk

Thursday Nov 24, 2022
Dr Aida Suarez-Gonzalez - Embedding PPI in our ReadClear Tech Trial
Thursday Nov 24, 2022
Thursday Nov 24, 2022
Dr Aida Suárez-Gonzalez narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher.
ReadClear is an app to support reading in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). Aida and her team co-produced the service with a group of people living with PCA, and then went on to test it in a randomised clinical trial. Aida has blogged about the value of this PPI process in the past but has never written about how she supported participants to engage with the app during the trial and how co-production continued during the trial itself. Dr Ivanna Pavisic and Dr Dilek Ocal were the colleagues who conducted the ReadClear home-based trial with her. They travelled around England training participants on how to use the app and facilitating a context that led to new rounds of priceless feedback. In this blog Aida chats to both of them as they share their learnings and personal experience.
Find the original text, and narration here on our website.
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-embedding-ppi-in-our-readclear-tech-trial/
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 - published fortnightly, just look for Dementia Researcher in your podcast app.
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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





