The Brain Health and Dementia Research Strategy for Scotland

In this podcast Adam Smith interviews Craig Ritchie, Professor Psychiatry of Ageing from The University of Edinburgh and Jim Pearson, Director of Policy & Practice at Alzheimer Scotland. They discuss the recently launched Scottish Brain Health & Dementia Research Strategy. Prepared by Alzheimer Scotland, The Scottish Dementia Research Consortium and Brain Health Scotland, and endorsed by a broad range of national organisations, the strategy sets the direction of travel for research in Scotland by defining key areas with strategic actions. They explore how the policy was developed, what it hopes to achieve and how support for Early Career Researchers is a key feature of the policy. Review the policy at: https://www.sdrc.scot/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Scottish-Brain-Health-Dementia-Research-Strategy-2021-min-1-1.pdf For more information on the organisations behind the policy: https://www.brainhealth.scot/ https://www.alzscot.org/ https://www.sdrc.scot/ Professor Ritchie is a Professor of the Psychiatry of Ageing at the University of Edinburgh having moved from his role as Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Mental Health at Imperial College London in October 2014. Craig is a leading authority on Clinical Trials in Dementia and has been senior investigator on over 30 drug trials of both disease modifying and symptomatic agents for that condition. Craig has published extensively on the topics of dementia and delirium. He is also one of the leading editors in the Cochrane Collaboration’s Dementia Group. Additionally Craig leads the Alzheimer Society-funded PREVENT project; a major initiative nationally which will identify mid-life risks for later life dementia and characterise early changes of neurodegenerative disease, this is in addition to multiple other projects, including leading on Brain Health Scotland. Jim is Alzheimer Scotland's Director of Policy & Practice and is responsible for Alzheimer Scotland's public policy engagement. He has a background in welfare rights and a particular interest in promoting as well as protecting the rights of people living with dementia. He played a significant role in developing Scotland's Charter of Rights for people with dementia and their carers, which puts human and other legal rights at the heart of each commitment of Scotland's first and second dementia strategies. Jim also sit on the Board of Alzheimer Europe. You can find out more about our guests, and access a full transcript of this podcast on our website at: https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/podcast ________________________ Finally, please review, like, and share our podcast - and don't forget to subscribe to ensure you never miss an episode. Register on our website to receive your weekly bulletin, and to access more great content – blogs, science, career support + much more https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk This podcast is brought to you in association with Alzheimer's Research UK and Alzheimer's Society, who we thank for their ongoing support.