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Dr Sarah Kate Smith
Name:
Dr Sarah Kate Smith
Job title:
NIHR / Alzheimer’s Society Dem Comm Fellow
Place of work / study:
The University of Manchester
Area of Research:
Brain Health & Dementia Prevention
How is your work funded?
Alzheimer’s Society / NIHR
Tell us a little about yourself:
I was a manager at the John Lewis Partnership for almost 15 years but decided to change career by undertaking a BSc Psychology part-time with the Open University when my youngest son was 6 months old. I achieved a 1st Class Honours in Psychology and then a Scholarship with the ESRC White Rose DTC to study my PhD in the School of Health & Related Research at the University of Sheffield. I completed my PhD in Health Services Research in 2015 and since then have worked as a post-doc on a multitude of programmes at the Universities of Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Salford and Manchester.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself:
I have duel citizenship British/Irish so still consider myself European
Why did you choose to work in dementia?
I spent some years volunteering as a Samaritan and was so saddened to receive so many calls from older adults living with dementia. Not necessarily because they had dementia, but many were lonely and socially isolated and the only regular contact that they had was calling a suicide helpline.
What single piece of advice would you give to an early career researcher?
Grab every opportunity that presents itself and run with it, network network network.
What book are you reading right now? Would you recommend it?
One Last Thing – Wendy Mitchell. Emotional, thought provoking and brilliantly written.
Favourite Film of all time?
Legends of the Fall
Favourite ways to unplug and unwind?
Music, reading, friends
Hannah Hussain
Dr Lis Grey