Name:![Akin Nihat - DEMENTIA RESEARCHER](https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Akin-Nihat-211x300.jpg)
Akin Nihat
Job Title:
Clinical Research Fellow
Place of work / study:
MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases
Area of Research:
Prion disease/rapidly-progressive dementia
Tell us a little about yourself:
I’m a clinical research fellow and MRC-funded PhD student interested in the clinical and molecular aspects of prion disease. I split my time between reviewing patients with prion disease throughout the UK and undertaking clinical research, working in the lab to develop better cell models of human prion disease, and seeing general neurology patients in clinic.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
I’m a triplet, so there are always two better versions of me wandering around.
Why did you choose to work in dementia?
I have been interested in cognition and neuroscience for as long as I can remember, even before I decided to pursue a career in medicine. During my early jobs as a junior doctor, I spent a lot of time on general medical wards and saw a huge population of patients with dementia or cognitive impairment with little or no recourse to treatment; I became really interested in what we don’t know about these conditions, and particularly the disconnect between some of the excellent research taking place and the almost non-existent trickle down into clinical practice.
My wife has post-Covid cognitive impairment and a Prion-like condition with 14-3-3 negative Tau 1003.
We have been following for the last 1 year. The motor started to malfunction in the last 2 weeks while the functions were fine,