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The Dementia Reseach Centre is committed to building awareness of dementia, its diversity and its human implications, among our fellow clinicians and scientists; and to improving inclusivity and communication in dementia research and care for the wider public, in particular members of under-served communities. 

We have convened a dedicated PPIE workforce to harness expertise in PPI, inclusivity and diversity throughout the Centre, with the key aim of increasing co-production and dissemination of our work with the general public. 

2024

The Jennings vs Alzheimer's

BBC documentary, , shares the story of a very special family and jointly, discoveries made by researchers (including Prof Nick Fox, Dr Cath Mummery, Prof Martin Rossor and colleagues) that have given hope for Alzheimer's disease over the past four decades. 

How and why we should measure the type of dementia and level of disease progression

This public engagement event held on 17th July 2024 was an interactive educational event for people living with dementia, their carers, their supporters and the public. The focus of this event was dementia sub-typing, which identifies the type of brain disease causing the dementia, and its staging, which looks at the level of disease present. This event was held as part of the  Amyloid Dual-biomarker PET for Dementia diagnosis and subtyping (ADAPT DEfEAT) project, funded by the NIHR (NIHR302139).

We had talks from both experts by experience: patients, carers and supporters, as well as experts by profession including Neurologists, Speech & language therapists and research scientists. Following the talks we also had interactive sessions where participants could speak to our experts about medical imaging, subtyping and staging using artificial intelligence (AI), support for those living with dementia and their carers/supporters, and Patient and Public Involvement (PPI).

The event aimed to:

• Educate participants in research in dementia diagnosis and staging
• Share different perspectives on dementia diagnosis
• Inspire people to get involved in research
• Listen to patients, carers, supporters and the public

Talks

To listen to the full day of talks you can follow the link here, or select an individual talk below.

Interactive sessions

On the day of the event we had a variety of interactive sessions that attendees could take part in.

Experts from the talked to participants about how we can use Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to diagnose dementia.

 A researcher at the and Dementia Research Centre explained how we can use artificial intelligence (AI) on Positron Emission Tomograghy (PET) scans to subtype and stage dementia.  

Representatives from the charity and spoke to participants about their work.  

We got excellent feedback from the participants about what they gained from the event and what they would like researchers to know. This information will feed into future projects and events.

Many thanks to all those who participated in this event, including speakers, volunteers and all those who attended.

Other examples of our activities include: 

• Co-production of research outputs, notably including the recent symptom-led staging for primary progressive aphasia, the first such staging for these diseases, led by Chris Hardy and based on international caregiver online surveys about their lived experience of the illness:
• Regular media appearances showcasing our work – including podcasts from The Dementia Researcher, The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, and BBG CrowdScience; and coverage by BBC Radio 4 and Radio 3, BBC Breakfast, LBC Radio, The Guardian, The Times, The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal. 
• Dementia awareness activities involving the UK Chinese communities, led by Dr Jess Jiang – focused on increasing dementia awareness and inclusivity in research for this unique but minoritised demographic. Jess currently co-organises the Chinese Dementia Carer support group meetings.