Introducing the Dementia Researcher Salon

A weekly gathering to discuss careers and research topics, inspired by 17th and 18th century salons from Paris, with a modern twist. These sessions combine livestreams, guest speakers and group chat to exchange ideas, challenge, influence, inspire and educate. After the 30 minute livestream ends, you can join the host and speakers with our others and continue to discuss the topic for a further 30 minutes (you will find this in past events). Our very first gathering is scheduled for the 26th June at 12noon BST to explore 'Tackling Sexism in Academia'. Join us LIVE or join our community to catch-up when you have time: https://communities.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/c/events/tackling-sexism-in-academia-6284d2d8-3ddc-44f6-a618-8d7a3492f148 -- Sexism in academia is a significant issue that manifests through unequal opportunities, pay disparities, and underrepresentation of women, particularly in senior and leadership roles. Despite advancements in policies aimed at fostering equality, implicit biases and structural barriers continue to impede the progress of female academics. How can we claim to value intellectual diversity when half the population is underrepresented in academic leadership What message are we sending to the next generation of scholars if we continue to ignore the gender biases that permeate our institutions? Can academia truly progress if it fails to address the systemic barriers that prevent women from succeeding at the same rate as their male counterparts? In this salon session we will hear from our speakers and then give you the audience a chance to have your say. Speakers Georgina Menzies - is a Computational Biologist and Lecturer with a research portfolio in understanding DNA-repair and disease modifying coding mutations. Prior to this appointment Georgina held a Ser Cyrmu II Fellowship in the Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff. Georgina is involved in the Alzheimer's Research UK network in South Wales, and has helped drive the ECR steering committee for the UKDRI cross-centre theme on DNA repair and neurodegeneration into existence. Soumilee Chaudhuri - is a 3rd year doctoral candidate in Medical Neuroscience and Bioinformatics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, researching Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD) in multiethnic populations. Soumilee was raised in Kolkata, India and graduated with double degrees in Neuroscience & Biochemistry from Montana State University, Bozeman as an International Merit Scholar. She works at the intersection of multi-omics and neuroimaging to characterize Alzheimer Disease (AD) therapeutics; she was competitively awarded the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Health Equity Scholar Program (ADNI HESP) fellowship. Her interests and experiences range from neurodegenerative diseases, neuroinformatics, to science communication, public health policy and diversifying academia & research spaces. She is the recent co-founder of IMPACT IN (Initiative for Mobilizing Public health Advocacy, Care, and Translational research for Alzheimer’s Disease in Indiana).