Helping you play your part in beating dementia
Every 3 minutes someone develops dementia in the UK, and for the first time, it is now the leading cause of death in England & Wales. And yet, five times fewer researchers choose to work in dementia than in cancer. To tackle this challenge head on, we need to support emerging talent. That’s where you come in.
Being an early career researcher can be incredibly rewarding and challenging too. It is as much about new discoveries, collaborations and ideas as it is about the pressure to publish papers and the competition for funding. So, we’ve put our heads together to create a website just for you. A place to go to when you need some inspiration or want to get advice from other early career researchers and leading experts.
Dementia Researcher Statistics @ 31st May
The people behind Dementia Researcher
The Dementia Researcher website and podcast were launched in March 2018, in response to the Prime Ministers Challenge on Dementia. The challenge called for "Dementia research to become the career opportunity of choice, with the UK being the best place for Dementia Research through a partnership between patients, researchers, funders and society". It also recognised that "doing more research requires training researchers across the spectrum – neuroscientists, translational, clinical, care and implementation researchers; and supporting clinical and broader health and care academic training pathways in key specialties and supporting methodologies".
Supported by funding from the National Institute for Health & Care Research, Alzheimer's Research UK and Alzheimer's Society - Dementia Researcher is an international service, based within the University College London Hospitals / University College London NIHR Biomedical Research Centre - led by Programme Director Adam Smith, and Professor Martin Rossor.
The website and companion podcast aim to provide information and support for Early Career Dementia Researchers (ECRs), based within the UK and across the world. It consolidates listings of available funding opportunities, jobs and events and shares relevant science, careers, and research content from other sources. The team behind the website also bring together ECRs to share their own thoughts on career topics and research in the form of blogs, webinars, and a regular fortnightly podcast. Additionally, the service has a support community and regular social networking events. The service continues to expand and has sought out opportunities to collaborate with other institutions from across the world to expand its offering and support for its core aims:
- Drive progress in Dementia Research
- Support Early Career Dementia Researchers to network with colleagues from within their own field, and in other areas of science.
- Facilitate sharing of research across different fields of discovery.
- Create and collate content that will enrich the learning and research environment for Early Career Researchers.
- Enable Early Career Researchers to succeed in their chosen field, and to be aware of the tools, organisations, and support systems available to them, and make it easier for them to find and access those resources.
- Encourage, and where possible support, Early Career Dementia Researchers to continue to choose dementia as their chosen area of speciality and remain in research.
- Inspire young people, and researchers from other diseases and professions to choose dementia as their area of speciality.
Report 2023 by Adam Smith
Download the Dementia Researcher 2023 Report (Large File)
Download a simple screenreader accessible verion of the 2023 Dementia Researcher Annual Report.
If you would like to contribute to the website, or collaborate to expand the reach and services provided by the website, please get in touch using our contact us page.
Meet the people behind the website:
Martin Rossor, Professor of Clinical Neurology
Adam Smith, Programme Director
Partners:
National Institute for Health & Care Research - The NIHR was established in 2006 to "create a health research system in which the NHS supports outstanding individuals, working in world-class facilities, conducting leading-edge research focused on the needs of patients and the public". Since that time, we have transformed research in and for the NHS and helped to shape the health and social care research landscape more broadly. Working in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public, we fund, enable and deliver world-leading health and social care research that improves people's health and wellbeing.
Alzheimer's Association - The Alzheimer's Association leads the way to end Alzheimer's and all other dementia — by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support. As the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer's research, the Association is committed to accelerating the global progress of new treatments, preventions and, ultimately, a cure. Alzheimer's Assoication also helps build connections and advance the field through 'The Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment' (ISTAART). This society convenes the global Alzheimer's and dementia science community. Members share knowledge, fuel collaboration and advance research to find more effective ways to detect, treat and prevent Alzheimer's and other dementias. Find more in the Alzheimer's Association Corner.
Alzheimer's Research UK - Our vision is a world where people are free from the fear, harm and heartbreak of dementia. Without effective treatments, one in three children born today will die with dementia. Today, there are no dementia survivors but research can change this. Alzheimer’s Research UK is the UK's leading dementia research charity, dedicated to causes, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure. Backed by our passionate scientists and supporters, we’re challenging the way people think about dementia, uniting the big thinkers in the field and funding the innovative science that will deliver a cure. Find more in the Alzheimer's Research UK Corner.
Alzheimer's Society - Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading dementia charity. We campaign for change, fund research to find a cure and support people living with dementia today. Alzheimer’s Society is facing dementia head on. Whether you’re a researcher, fundraiser, donor, partner, or affected by dementia in any way, we’re working with you to build a movement. Inspired by your voices, we’re leading the way in support, society and research. We are calling on everyone to unite. Working together we know we will achieve our vision - a world without dementia. Find more in the Alzheimer's Society Corner.
Race Against Dementia - Race Against Dementia raises and allocates funds to accelerate global research and development in the race to find a prevention or treatment for dementia. Our vision is a breakthrough in the prevention or treatment of dementia with the greatest of urgency. We do this through our 4 key principles: 1. New Talent - Identifying and financially backing the most talented early-career researchers. 2. Innovation - We provide catalyst funding, enabling researchers to pursue innovative ideas at the highest level, that might not get funded by the mainstream. 3. Speed - We aim to instil a ‘Formula 1 attitude’ in attention to detail and urgency, to accelerate the pace of solutions development. 4. Global - We form strong alliances with research centres of excellence on a global basis. Find more in the Race Against Dementia Corner.