Dementia Researcher Vodcast

Academic collaborations shape most research careers, yet few researchers are ever taught how to start one, who to trust, or what needs agreeing before the work begins. Adam Smith is joined by Dr Sarah Marzi , Reader in Neurogenomics at the UK Dementia Research Institute at King's College London, and Professor Georgina Charlesworth , Professor of Clinical Psychology of Ageing and Dementia at UCL an...

In this special episode, recorded to mark UCL's 200th birthday and released on World Alzheimer's Day, three UCL researchers working at very different ends of dementia research come together to talk about what the university has contributed, and where the field goes next. Professor Selina Wray hosts, joined by Dr Aygun Badalova , a neuropsychologist working on digital neurorehabilitation at the UCL...

Sleep, the menstrual cycle and women's brain health rarely line up the way people expect. Women report worse sleep than men, yet objective recordings often show them sleeping longer and spending more time in deep sleep, and nobody has fully explained the gap. Host Dr Laura Stankeviciute , a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Gothenburg working on sleep and sex differences in brain ageing...

Should you pursue a fellowship or apply for a lectureship? The choice is often framed as protected research time versus a permanent contract, but the reality is more complicated. Dr Fiona McLean hosts Dr Warren Donnellan from University of Liverpool, Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali from Teesside University, and Dr Sarah-Naomi James from University College London, to compare the jobs as they are actually experi...

Changing the course of dementia depends entirely on where you are standing, and this panel is standing in four different places. Recorded in front of a live audience at the Alzheimer's Research UK Thames Valley Network Dementia Research Day 2026, Professor Emma Mead , Chief Scientific Officer at the ARUK Oxford Drug Discovery Institute, puts the question to four people who see the problem from ver...

Around 80% of women worldwide will become mothers, and pregnancy triggers the largest hormonal shift the body will ever experience. So what does it do to the brain, and does any of it last? In this episode of XXplored, host Dr Laura Stankeviciute , University of Gothenburg is joined by Dr Magdalena Martínez-García , Scientific Director of Maternal Health at the Ann S. Bowers Women's Brain Health I...

In this episode, we share highlights from the fourth day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). Adam Smith chats with Dr Niying Li, Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia; Dr Natasha Anita, a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital; and Lillian Morgado, Research Coordinator at Georgia State University. The AAIC brings tog...

In this episode, we share highlights from the third day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). Adam Smith chats with Cari Randa-Beaulieu , Provincial Coordinator, Knowledge Mobilization at the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia and Yukon; and Abrar AbuHamdia , a PhD candidate at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. The AAIC brings together researchers from all ar...

In this episode, we share highlights from the second day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). Adam Smith chats with Nathania from Universitas Airlangga in Indonesia, Dr Arezoo Talebzadeh from Ghent University in Belgium, and Dr Suelyn Koerich from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research...

In this episode, we share highlights from the first day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). Adam Smith chats with Sarah Graef from Rush University Medical Center and Muthia Huda Islami from the National Brain Centre Hospital Mahar Mardjono in Jakarta. The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research to share their work, theories and breakthroughs whi...

Welcome to the seventh season of the Dementia Researcher X ISTAART PIA Relay Podcast. Across six episodes, leading early career and senior researchers hand the mic from one ISTAART PIA to the next, giving you an honest, peer-to-peer tour of where dementia research is actually heading, from wearables and biomarkers to policy and trial design, in the run-up to AAIC . Series closer, and the relay com...

Welcome to the seventh season of the Dementia Researcher X ISTAART PIA Relay Podcast. Across six episodes, leading early career and senior researchers hand the mic from one ISTAART PIA to the next, giving you an honest, peer-to-peer tour of where dementia research is actually heading, from wearables and biomarkers to policy and trial design, in the run-up to AAIC . Most people with hypertension af...

Welcome to the seventh season of the Dementia Researcher X ISTAART PIA Relay Podcast. Across six episodes, leading early career and senior researchers hand the mic from one ISTAART PIA to the next, giving you an honest, peer-to-peer tour of where dementia research is actually heading, from wearables and biomarkers to policy and trial design, in the run-up to AAIC . Lewy body pathology shows up in...

Welcome to the seventh season of the Dementia Researcher X ISTAART PIA Relay Podcast. Across six episodes, leading early career and senior researchers hand the mic from one ISTAART PIA to the next, giving you an honest, peer-to-peer tour of where dementia research is actually heading, from wearables and biomarkers to policy and trial design, in the run-up to AAIC . Almost everyone born with Down s...

Welcome to the seventh season of the Dementia Researcher X ISTAART PIA Relay Podcast. Across six episodes, leading early career and senior researchers hand the mic from one ISTAART PIA to the next, giving you an honest, peer-to-peer tour of where dementia research is actually heading, from wearables and biomarkers to policy and trial design, in the run-up to AAIC . If we cured Alzheimer's tomorrow...

Welcome to the seventh season of the Dementia Researcher X ISTAART PIA Relay Podcast. Across six episodes, leading early career and senior researchers hand the mic from one ISTAART PIA to the next, giving you an honest, peer-to-peer tour of where dementia research is actually heading, from wearables and biomarkers to policy and trial design, in the run-up to AAIC . Sleep might be one of the earlie...

Most people with dementia live, and many die, at home. The person who knows them best in those final months is often not a clinician but a home care worker coming through the door several times a day, doing some of the hardest work in the dementia pathway with little training and almost no research behind them. This episode asks what good home care actually looks like, why it is so hard to deliver...

In this episode, Professor Louise Serpell brings together Dr Niranjan Bose from the Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative, Jonathan Hoover from the AI company Prima Mente, and Dr Kexin Huang from Stanford University and Biomni AD. They discuss the Alzheimer’s Insights AI Prize and what agentic AI could mean for the future of dementia research. We hear about the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative an...

What happens when academia no longer feels like the right fit, but research still does? In this episode, Adam Smith is joined by Dr Ellice Parkinson from Health Innovation East, Elizabeth 'Lizzie' English from the British Heart Foundation, and Dr Alice Carstairs from Alzheimer’s Society to talk about leaving academia while staying connected to research. Together, they explore the career turns that...

Globally, women are twice as likely as men to experience depression and anxiety, and the risk peaks at moments of hormonal change: postpartum, the luteal phase, perimenopause. Why? In this episode of XXplored, host Dr Laura Stankeviciute , University of Gothenburg is joined by Professor Vibe Gedsø Frøkjær , a leading researcher on serotonin and sex hormones at the University of Copenhagen, and Fra...

Extended reality is starting to find a real place in dementia research and care. In this episode, host Dr Byron Creese is joined by David de Jong-Bambagioni , Dr Emilie Brotherhood , and Alice Rowe to explore how virtual, augmented, and mixed reality tools are being used in practice. Together, they discuss how XR is helping to standardise cognitive assessments, simulate clinical environments, and...

In this episode of the Dementia Researcher Podcast Dr Anna Volkmer hosts a discussion exploring the complexities of wandering in dementia care. Dr Bryony Waters-Harvey & Dr Emma Hock from The University of Sheffield and Conny McGowan from The Orders of St John Care Trust discuss their research and outcomes of the NIHR funded "FREEDEM study" - Reframing 'wandering' as a meaningful activity usin...

This episode of the Dementia Researcher Podcast continues our coverage from the AD PD Conference 2026 in Copenhagen, one of the largest international meetings focused on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Hosted by Professor Louise Serpell , the conversation brings together Athina Grigoriou , Dr Lauren O’Neill , and Dr Sofie Let Frandsen , each sharing highlights from across the conference. The...

This episode of the Dementia Researcher Podcast comes from the AD PD Conference 2026 in Copenhagen, bringing together global researchers to share the latest in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease research. Hosted by Professor David Cash , the episode features Grace Thompson , Dr Marieta Vassileva , and Dr Alice Carstairs , each offering their own highlights from across the conference. Rather than...

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a group of language led dementias where communication difficulties appear before memory loss. Despite this, diagnosis can often take years and access to specialist support remains inconsistent. In this episode of the Dementia Researcher Podcast, Dr Annalise Rahman Filipiak speaks with Professor Jason Warren , Dr Anna Volkmer and Dr Jacqueline Kindell about the...