News
Here, we share all the latest news, both from the SDRC and the wider brain health and dementia research community in Scotland.
If you have some news that you would like to share with the SDRC audience, click the link below to get in touch.

Scottish Neurological Research Fund 2024/5: Award Announcement
We have produced a report based on the findings of how COVID-19 has impacted our members’ research- with particular focus on ECRs

Research Mapping Results 2023
Every year, the SDRC conducts a mapping exercise of the Scottish dementia and brain health research landscape. We publish results of this which covers who is doing research in Scotland, their grant awards, published papers and international collaborators. Highlights...

Alzheimer Scotland Student Research Programme: Award Announcement
The Alzheimer Scotland Student Research Programme has funded two projects during its 2023/4 round of applications. We are pleased to announce the team that were awarded the second of two awards is Dr Coco Newton from University College London and Prof Anja Maier from...

The Ella MacGregor Award: Alzheimer Scotland Student Research Programme 2024
The Alzheimer Scotland Student Research Programme is excited to announce the first of two recipients of funding for 2024. This particular award, which will also be known as the Ella MacGregor Award, goes to the student Katie Robertson, supervised by a team led by Prof...

Celebrating Scottish Research Award Winners 2024
We have produced a report based on the findings of how COVID-19 has impacted our members’ research- with particular focus on ECRs

Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice recognised at the Herald Higher Education Awards 2023
Congratulations to the Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice (ASCPP) at the University of the West of Scotland on winning the for Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community at the Herald Higher Education Awards 2023. The specific project was...

The launch of the SDRC Annual Report 2022/23
The SDRC Annual Report 2023, launched at the SDRC Annual Conference on Tuesday 25th April 2023. It outlines what research has been ongoing in dementia and brain health research in Scotland in the past 12 months. It includes the updates from each of the SDRC Research...

Announcement of the Brain Health Alliance for Research Challenge
The SDRC are excited to be part of a new collaborative research alliance, supported by the Scottish Funding Council. The Scottish Brain Health Alliance for Research Challenge (ARC) is a project that will receive up to £600,000 to create multi-disciplinary,...

Call for new members: Scottish Cognitive Ageing Network
The Scottish Cognitive Ageing Network (SCAN) was established in 2022, aimed at formalising and building on cross-institutional links in cognitive ageing research across Scotland. The inaugural meeting took place at the University of Strathclyde in May, with a second...

New SDRC Executive Committee Member: Dr Leah Macaden
Following the 2022 SDRC Executive Committee election, Dr Leah Macaden has been elected as a new member. Find out more in Leah's biography below. Dr Leah Macaden is a Senior Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Edinburgh with a rich and diverse range of academic,...

SDRC Executive Committee Member: Dr Jennifer Macfarlane
In October 2022, the SDRC held our election to refresh the Executive Committee. We are now able to announce who was successfully voted. Jennifer Macfarlane has been a co-opted member of the SDRC Executive Committee since earlier this year, we are now delighted to...

Highlights from Alzheimer Europe Conference 2022
On 17-19 October 2022, Alzheimer Europe held their Annual Conference in Bucharest, Romania. The theme of the event was Building Bridges. In this blog, we are sharing the highlights of the Conference from a Scottish perspective. The Alzheimer Europe Conference is a...

Neuroprogressive and Dementia Research Network Conference 2022
This year's Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network (from NHS Research Scotland) Annual Conference will be day focused on those most impacted by research outcomes, and an opportunity to learn from their experiences to improve the research landscape. It will bring...

Edinburgh Dementia Prevention Summer School 2022
Edinburgh Dementia Prevention are hosting a brain health summer school on Monday 26 September - Thursday 29 September 2022, at St Leonard's Hall, Edinburgh. It is is a 4-day interactive course designed principally for trainee and qualified clinicians, nurses and...

Life Sciences Event with the SDRC, SULSA, Brain Health Scotland & Alzheimer Scotland
On the 26-27 May 2022, the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA), the Scottish Dementia Research Consortium, Brain Health Scotland and Alzheimer Scotland hosted world leaders in Life Sciences at a summit at the University of St Andrews. This two-day...

The launch of the SDRC Annual Report 2021/22
The SDRC Annual Report 2022, launched at the SDRC Annual Conference on Monday 9th May. It outlines what research has been ongoing in dementia and brain health research in Scotland in the past 12 months. It includes the updates from each of the SDRC Research Themes, as...

Research Strategy Oversight Board Chair: Henry McLeish
The Scottish Dementia Research Consortium, Brain Health Scotland and Alzheimer Scotland are delighted to announce the appointment of Henry McLeish as the Chair of the Scottish Brain Health and Dementia Research Strategy Oversight Board. In July 2021, the SDRC,...

Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice (ASCPP) 2021 Annual Report
The Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice (ASCPP) has launched its Annual Celebration Report, 2021. It has a focus on education success and also features their work in applied research and their support of evidence based policy and practice work. We are...

NHS Research Scotland Neuroprogressive and Dementia Research Network Strategy Launch
On 3rd December 2021, the NHS Research Scotland Neuroprogressive and Dementia Research Network (NRS NDN) launched a new strategy. It sets out the Network's intention to involve, engage with, and support people with lived experience of neuroprogressive conditions or...

Dementia Researcher Podcast: Brain Health and Dementia Research Strategy
On the 18th October, Adam Smith interviewed SDRC Chair Craig Ritchie and Director of Policy and Practice at Alzheimer Scotland on the Dementia Researcher Podcast. They were discussing the recently launched Scottish Brain Health and Dementia Research Strategy....

Treating dementia, what’s next and how do we get there?
On the 21st September 2021, World Alzheimer's Day, Alzheimer Scotland held their annual conference. It was a virtual event which was attended by people with dementia, carers, practitioners and other members of the public from all over Scotland. In the afternoon...

Ten years of the Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre: past, present, and future
Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre (ASDRC) is in partnership with the University of Edinburgh and provides a high quality environment for dementia research. On the 21st September 2021, the ASDRC celebrated its 10th Anniversary. To celebrate this, they...

RCPsych Awards 2021: Nominations for Dr Tom Russ and Dr Lucy Stirland
At the SDRC, we are always excited when we can share success of dementia and brain health researchers working in Scotland. We'd like to offer our congratulations to Dr Lucy Stirland and SDRC Executive Committee Member Dr Tom Russ for their recent nominations for a...
Scottish Neurological Research Fund 2021: Award Announcement
We have produced a report based on the findings of how COVID-19 has impacted our members’ research- with particular focus on ECRs

Research Recruitment Support for Primary Care Researchers
The NRS Primary Care Network is the national primary care research network operating in Scotland. The network was established in 2002 as a framework to co-ordinate national research activity in primary care. The overall aim of the network is to increase the amount of...

Research in the News: Football Heading and Dementia Risk
Researchers Glasgow Brain Injury Research Group (GBIRG) led by Associate Professor Willie Stewart, have published their findings reporting a link between a footballers' outfield position and neurodegenerative risk. Taking place at the University of Glasgow, as part...
The launch Scottish Brain Health and Dementia Research Strategy
Today (8 July 2021) sees the launch of the first 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...

The launch of the SDRC Annual Report 2020/21
The SDRC Annual Report 2020/21, launched at the SDRC Annual Conference 2021 on Wednesday 16th June. It outlines what research has been ongoing in dementia and brain health research in Scotland in the past 12 months. Of course, it heavily features the impact COVID has...

Aducanumab: Approval of new Alzheimer’s disease drug explained
Aducanumab: Dr Terry Quinn explains approval of new Alzheimer's disease drug SDRC Executive Committee member, Dr Terry Quinn, Terry takes us through all the important facts behind the recent announcement by the FDA in the US to approve aducanumab for the treatment of...

Launch of the SDRC Early Career Researcher Group
The SDRC are very excited to announce the launch of our Early Career Researcher (ECR) Group. This group are made up of ECRs from research institutions across Scotland, representing all dementia and brain health disciplines. Their purpose is to advise the SDRC...

SDRC Support for Early Career Researchers
The SDRC aim to be here for all dementia researchers based in Scotland. Of course, supporting ECRs is a key part of this, and we want to do all we can to nurture emerging talent and help develop the future leaders in dementia and brain health research. As was part of...

National Workshops- Patient Public Involvement
NHS Research Scotland (NRS) has funded a small bid from the Universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow to run some Patient Public Involvement (PPI) Workshops. The idea of the workshops is to have a collective dialogue about how we progress PPI in...

New SDRC Executive Committee Member: Stina Saunders
Our final announcement of new SDRC Executive Committee members is Stina Saunders. We are delighted to have Stina joining us and look forward to working with her and all the new members. Find out more about Stina in the blog below. I am in the final year of my PhD at...

Alzheimer Disease International Clinician Survey
This year Alzheimer's Disease International has commissioned McGill University, Montreal, Canada to produce this year's World Alzheimer Report on diagnosis, as well as the 2022 World Alzheimer Report on post-diagnostic support. The first of three surveys is now ready...

New SDRC Executive Committee Member: Dr Tom Russ
Following our recent SDRC Executive Committee election, we have seven new researchers join us. The full list of members is available here. We are delighted to announce Dr Tom Russ as one of the newest members. Find out more about Tom below. I trained in medicine and...

Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice (ASCPP) Annual Celebration Report
The Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice (ASCPP) has launched its Annual Celebration Report to showcase the work of the Centre and celebrate outstanding dementia care during the pandemic. The ASCPP is led by Professor Debbie Tolson, one of our SDRC...

How COVID has Impacted Early Career Researchers: July 2020 Survey Findings
You may be aware, since the start of the pandemic, the SDRC have been communicating with members on the impact of Covid on dementia research. At the start of lockdown, we ran a survey to find out how the pandemic has affected ECRs. From this we created a report,...

Do you have insights to share with other researchers? Write a blog for the SDRC!
We are always looking for SDRC members to feature on our website and write a guest blog for the SDRC. You may already be familiar with our blog series, where we welcome contributions from people with an experience of brain health or dementia research. Blogs are an...

Take part in a research study: Remote Cognitive Testing Survey
The University of Oxford are looking for volunteers from Scotland to take part in a survey about the Impact of COVID-19 on cognitive testing The Translational Neuropsychology Lab at the University of Oxford, are investigating the impacts of COVID-19 UK lockdown on...

SDRC Virtual Conference 2020 Summary
On the 7th September 2020, the SDRC hosted our fifth annual conference. The Conference was our biggest event yet. Over 240 people registered to attend, with three plenary speakers, eight early career researchers, 15 poster exhibitors and four exhibition stands. Thank...
SDRC Report: How COVID-19 has impacted research
We have produced a report based on the findings of how COVID-19 has impacted our members’ research- with particular focus on ECRs

The launch of the SDRC Annual Report 2019/20
The SDRC Annual Report 2019/20, launched on Monday 20th April, outlines what is new in dementia and brain health research in Scotland in the past 12 months. Once again, we are able to show the truly amazing quantity, quality and diversity of research happening...
Professor John Starr: A tribute
We're deeply saddened to hear that Professor John Starr has passed away. Prof Starr supported our work for many years as an Alzheimer Scotland Trustee, and as the Director of the Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre at the University of Edinburgh....
Alzheimer Scotland welcomes announcement of Scottish Brain Health Register
Scotland’s largest annual dementia conference (Friday 8 June, EICC, Edinburgh) will see the official launch of the newly created Scottish Brain Health Register. The register is led by the Scottish Dementia Informatics Platform (part of the...