Teesside Local Group sets up Dementia Research Partnership

27th Feb 2024

The Teesside BNA Local Group was recently formed and last year aimed to address a clear gap within the local neuroscience community by organising the Dementia Research Partnership Event, with the support of BNA Local Group funding.

Dementia is a clinical syndrome that results in impairment of various cognitive functions. Due to an increasingly aged society, dementia is projected to place significant pressures on global health systems. Currently, approximately 944,000 people in the UK are living with dementia, with an economic burden of roughly £25billion per year. Despite decades of research there remain no effective therapies to prevent dementia onset or slow disease progression, which means that finding a cure for dementia remains one of the biggest challenges in the neuroscience field.

Finding ways to carry out research in partnership with patients and the public (Patient, Public Involvement or PPI) can help overcome some of the challenges in dementia research, such as determining priority areas, developing research materials, and advising on accessible communication strategies when disseminating research.

In order to create ways for people to be actively involved as partners in projects, as well as showcase the dementia research being carried out at Teesside University, on 18 January 2024 the inaugural Dementia Research Partnership Event was held at the National Horizons Centre in Darlington. The event was organised by Dr Ahmad Khundakar, senior lecturer, and Dr Kamar Ameen-Ali, senior lecturer and BNA Local Group Representative. The event was generously funded by the BNA Local Groups Funding Scheme with organisational support from Sara Grix, Regional Fundraising Officer for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

With over 40 attendees, the event involved presentations on topics such as key principles and challenges in co-research in dementia from Dr Chris Clarke, consultant clinical psychologist at Tees, Esk, and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. There was also a panel discussion involving family members of people living with dementia, who shared their experiences of co-designing a dementia research project. Speaking about the event, Dr Ameen-Ali said: “we want to build research partnerships between people living with dementia, their families, clinicians, and academics to advance dementia research in Teesside. This is particularly important when we know that people in this region are more likely to be affected by dementia due to high levels of deprivation and health inequalities. We need to make sure dementia research is representative of the needs of those most directly affected by it". The main outcome of the event has been the formation of the Dementia Research Partnership Network which will work to drive forward research collaborations within the dementia community in partnership with the wider public.

The Dementia Research Partnership Event was an excellent opportunity to create visibility of the BNA at Teesside University, and awareness of the new Local Group. BNA promotional material was used in advertising and marketing before, during, and after the event, which helped with driving recruitment of new BNA members; a challenge when establishing a new Local Group. Although this event was dementia-focused, the ambition of the Local Group is to expand and cover the wider neuroscience-based research at Teesside University going forward, to increase BNA membership and involvement in the new Local Group activities.

Could your local neuroscience community benefit from an event to support its innovation, collaboration, growth and development? Is there a need among your community that's felt strongly by many people? If you're a BNA member, why not contact your Local Group Representative to discuss making your idea a reality with up to £1000 in BNA funding.