Northamptonshire Dementia Research and Innovation Centre (NDRIC)

Northamptonshire Dementia Research and Innovation Centre Leadership

• Professor Jackie Parkes –  Co-lead
• Associate Professor Alison Ward – Co-lead
• Dr Jordan Elliot-King – Deputy Lead

Special Interest Groups Leaders

Special Interest Groups (SIGS) are collections of staff members that work together on a single topic/discipline within the activities covered by the wider Northamptonshire Dementia Research and Innovation Centre. These SIGs engage with their communities through a broad range of activities building platforms of engagement, hosting events and writing publications.

SIG 1 Dementia-Friendly Campus & Communities

Led by Professor Jacqueline Parkes

The aim of this SIG is to explore how people with dementia can continue to pursue active citizenship within knowledgeable organisations and communities which appreciate and accept their shared humanity.

SIG 2 Personhood & Lifestyle Factors

Led by Dr Jordan Elliott-King

The aim of this SIG is to investigate lifestyle factors and personhood that impact cognition, overall health and wellbeing of those at risk of developing dementia, as well as those living with dementia and their families.

SIG 3 Community Interventions

Led by Dr Alison Ward

The aim of this SIG is to explore ways of providing evidence-based community support for those living with a diagnosis of dementia and their families/caregivers. This brings together research and innovative practice to support independent living.

You can view our centre’s researchers on PURE.

• A Survey of Machine Learning Approaches Applied to Gene Expression Analysis for Cancer Prediction
• Khalsan, M., Machado, L., SALIH AL-SHAMERY, EMAN., Ajit, S., Anthony, K., Mu, M. & Opoku Agyeman, M., 18 Mar 2022, In: IEEE Access. 
• Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene expression is an independent prognostic marker for IDH mutant low-grade glioma
• Naidoo, M., Jones, L., Conboy, B., Hamarneh, W., D’Souza, D., Anthony, K. & Machado, L., 25 Feb 2022, In: Scientific Reports. 12, 1, 3200. 
• Exploring outcome measures with cognitive stimulation therapies and how these relate to the experiences of people with dementia: A narrative literature review
• Ward, A., Schack Thoft, D. & Lykkegaard Sorensen, A., 21 Jan 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice. 
• RNA-based therapeutics for neurological diseases
• Anthony, K., 22 Jan 2022, In: RNA Biology. 19, 1, p. 176-190 15 p. 
• Assessing people with dementia participating in cognitive stimulation activities – A qualitative pilot video analysis exploring the importance of facilitating the participation
• Schack Thoft, D., Ottesen, A. C., Jensen, A. M. & Ward, A., Aug 2021, In: Health Expectations. 24, 4, p. 1524-1534 11 p.

Our webinar series is an opportunity to hear about the latest developments in dementia research and practice. This was launched in December 2021 and runs quarterly. To sign up for future talks please contact: alison.ward@northampton.ac.uk

Recent talks have included:

• Dr Charles Scerri, University of Malta, talking about ‘Benchmarking national dementia strategies across Europe’
• Peter Middleton sharing a personal perspective of being a public and patient involvement representative on research and evaluation projects
• An international presentation from Denmark and the UK on the Development and Impact of Lifelong Learning for People Living with Dementia
• Professor Raymond Koopmans, Professor of Elderly Care Medicine at Radboud University Medical Center, and Dr Christian Bakker, Healthcare Psychologist and Leader of the Young-onset Dementia Research Programme at the Radboud University Medical Center, speak about Advancing clinical practice in young-onset dementia through scientific research: Lessons learned in the Netherlands.
• Sir Albert Aynsley-Green, Former Children’s Commissioner for England, and Dr Pat Sikes, Professor Emeritus of Qualitative Inquiry in the School of Education at the University of Sheffield, speak about the experiences of young people and children in supporting a parent living with dementia.
• Dr Laura Cole, Senior Lecturer and Leader for the MSc Dementia Studies: Contemporary Approaches to Practice at the University of West London; and Dr Natasha Bayes, Researcher at the University of Northampton speak about “Engaging people living with young onset dementia in research: Reflections and insights gained from the Dementia Experts from Involvement Network-Young Dementia (DEfIN-YD) Project”
• Professor Parkes, Dr Ward, Dr Bayes and Alison Stewart present findings on Establishing regional Memory Hubs: Sharing the findings and recommendations from the evaluation
• Dr Inga Stewart, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Research Fellow, as well as Head of Patient Co-production and Inclusion at St Andrew’s Healthcare, shares her experiences of establishing a co-production process for care planning with people living with dementia.

Information about our social group that meets once a month can be found on our Forget-Me-Nots page.