Dementia Researcher Blogs

Pippa Kirby , narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. There is no doubt that technology is dramatically changing the landscape of health and social care, and dementia care is no exception. Pippa's research is focused on exploring people with dementia’s perceptions and experiences of smart home technology. ‘Smart homes’ are one of the ways being proposed in which technology may be used t...

Dr Sam Moxon , narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher. Nanoparticles are small sized (1-100 nm) particles derived from transition metals, silver, copper, aluminum, silicon, carbon and metal oxides that can easily cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and/or produce damage to the barrier integrity by altering endothelial cell membrane permeability. Could this new innovation be the key to t...

Dr Alan Cronemberger Andrade narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher. Digital interactions could be useful for tracking health states, especially for brain disorders. The problem is that this kind of data may be harder to protect, and less controlled by ourselves. People with dementia, and other cognitive and behavioural problems, are vulnerable to data insecurity. In this blog Alan desc...

Hannah Hussain narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. Its tech and dementia week, and in this blog Hannah explores how virtual reality is jumping out of the hands of gamers, and into the research space as a non-pharmalogical intervention. Find the original text, and narration here on our website. https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/guest-blog-virtual-reality/ -- Hannah Hussain is...

Dr Anna Volkmer , narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. When you publish a paper, you probably celebrate and share your news, telling your colleagues and everyone on social media - and everyone will probably share their congratulations. When you win a big grant, or a fellowship... do you want to share the news? Of course you do! However, when you know others are having a hard time or...

Dr Gaia Brezzo narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. In this month’s blog, Gaia is reflecting back on a meeting she had with a member of the public earlier in the week. A stroke survivor, who has made it their goal to share with researchers, charities and funding bodies, their views and opinions. Sharing their lived experience of what it’s like to live with the aftermath of a stroke....

Beth Eyre  narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. If you're a jobbing scientist or researcher of any kind, you're probably familiar with imposter syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism. It's a psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.  Despite e...

Dr Anna Volkmer , narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. With her recent promotion comes new found freedoms and responsibilities... not everyone who enters academia is lucky enough to find research 'freedom', but if you do, will you be ready to be your own boss? Don't worry, you got this, and so has Anna, who was recenltly appointed as an NIHR Senior Investigator. In this blog Anna dis...

Dr Clarissa Giebel narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. A few weeks ago Clarissa went on her final research visit to Maastricht University and their Living Lab, thanks to an Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Nederland Knowledge Exchange Fellowship. This final trip has been long delayed due to the pandemic, in this blog Clarissa updates on her research project and discusses Green Pa...

Dr Yvonne Couch , narrates her blog written for the Dementia Researcher website. Yvonne has been talking to a leadership expert, so in her latest blog it is all about leadership in the context of research. She discusses the different styles of leadership and how you might apply them to your everyday interactions with the people you might encounter in a research job. Find the original text, and nar...

Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. Kam has written and submitted her first grant application. Well… kind of. The first stage only required 1-2 page outlines, brief costings, and abstracts. But nevertheless, this is a big milestone in academia, one that is statistically likely to result in failure. In this blog, Kam describes how she went about writing her first g...

Dr Sam Moxon , narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher. Dementia has been a part of society for at least 1400 years, in this blog Sam provides a quick romp through the history of the disease and explores the drugs that have been used to treat the symptons of Alzheimer's and some of the latest research into new treatments. Find the original text, and narration here on our website. https:/...

Dr Gaia Brezzo narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. As Gaia mentioned in her first blog, she had a slightly different PhD experience to most. Her funding and course enrolment fees were paid for by a Teaching Fellowship. This provided four years in which to run experiments, write up a thesis and teach for up to 180 hours in her department every year. In this blog, Gaia explores how th...

Beth Eyre  narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. When you think about it, it’s pretty amazing how far technology has come on in recent decades. One field in which technology has come on leaps and bounds is within neuroscience. Imaging the brain has always been a little tricky, because it’s encased in a skull. Obviously having a skull is important as it protects our precious brain from...

Nathan Stephens narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher. In this blog, Nathan provides summarises the things you’ll need to think about when planning a mixed methods research study, including characteristics and key design elements like sequencing, point of interface, and methodological priority. Find the original text, and narration here on our website. https://www.dementiaresearcher.ni...

Dr Anna Volkmer , narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. So the big news is... Anna was successful in her NIHR Advanced Fellowship application. It's been a long old road. It started with an application submission in January 2021 (and there was lots before that) and it’s finally official- signed and sealed. In this blog Anna provides an overview of actual timelines, of key milestones an...

Dr Clarissa Giebel narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. It's World Alzheimer's Day, and Alzheimer's Disease International have published their annual worldwide resport. Clarissa has been reviewing the report and she shares her thoughts in her latest blog. The common theme of this year’s dementia reports seems to be post-diagnostic care and support, or rather the lack thereof. Listen...

Dr Yvonne Couch , narrates her blog written for the Dementia Researcher website. Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels - this process involves the migration, growth, and differentiation of endothelial cells, which line the inside wall of blood vessels. Todays blog by Yvonne is all about Angiogenesis, a bit of history and a bit of how angiogenesis after brain injury and in old age may...

Dr Gaia Brezzo narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. We are delighted to welcome Dr Gaia Brezzo as a regular monthly blog contributor to the Dementia Researcher website. Gaia will be sharing stories of her research, field of discovery and providing top tips and careers advice coming from her experiences. Find the original text, and narration here on our website. https://www.dementiare...

Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. In February 2022 Kamar started a new academic position as a lecturer in biomedical science at Teesside University. This marks a significant step-up both in terms of opportunities it would present, and the new challenges she would face. In this blog, Kamar shares her experience of the first six months of my lectureship. This migh...

Nathan Stephens narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher. In this blog, Nathan provides a brief introduction to the evidence base on physical activity and dementia, suggesting that action on increasing participation in physical activity is a political mandate. He also includes his experiences of developing and evaluating an intervention to increase opportunities for people affected by dem...

Beth Eyre  narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. Beth has written a few blogs about opportunities outside of your research, and how they can benefit you. Having recently taken up the role of ISTAART Ambassador, and how this has been one of the best things she has undertaken outside her PhD. To make sure you're aware of the benefits, Beth has dedicated this blog to share the good news...

Hannah Hussain narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. Hannah recently collaborated with Dementia UK to produce digital content for their website and practice development team. This provides ongoing learning and development for Admiral nurses nationally, a group of people who provide essential support on medicines managment. What is medicines management? A term defined by the UK’s Medic...

Dr Sam Moxon , narrates his blog written for Dementia Researcher. Alzheimer’s research made the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. News broke pertaining to significant evidence that a high profile researcher may have falsified years of data surrounding the role of amyloid oligomers in AD. Alzheimer’s Research UK have provided a great digest on what this all means and the potential impli...

Dr Clarissa Giebel narrates her blog written for Dementia Researcher. After nearly two years of remote working with Colombian collaborators in Medellin, Clarissa was finally able to set foot into the country and understand the local complexities that affect older adults. In this blog Clarissa talks about her visit and touches on what she discovered, and why remote working sometimes just can't prov...