Dr. LEAH MACADEN BSc (N), RN RM, MSc (N), PhD, SFHEA.

Senior Lecturer, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK

Churchill Fellow – 2019 & Lead for Internationalisation

Department of Nursing & Midwifery, School of Health, Social Care & Life Sciences

University of the Highlands & Islands (Highland Campus) 

Dr Leah Macaden is a Senior Lecturer from the Department of Nursing and Midwifery at University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) in Scotland. She has a wide range of academic, clinical, management and research expertise that spans across India and the United Kingdom for over two decades. She is a Senior Fellow of the Advance HE and an alumnus of the Scottish Crucible. Dr Macaden has pioneered two innovative dementia curricula – Being Dementia Smart (BDS) whilst at the University of Stirling [UoS] in 2013 and DEEPE (Dementia Enhanced Education to Promote Excellence) for UHI in 2017 – both first of their kind using an integrated approach to undergraduate dementia nurse education mapped along the stages of the dementia journey and aligned to the Enhanced Level of Scotland’s Promoting Excellence Framework. In recognition of her leadership and expertise in the area of dementia education, she was awarded the Churchill Fellowship in 2019 for knowledge exchange and to explore models and pedagogical approaches to dementia education and training at Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania in the USA and Asia (Singapore and India).  

Her academic and research expertise include older adults with multimorbidity, sensory / cognitive impairments, pedagogy, blended approaches to learning, coproduction of resources for education and training and research mentoring. Her methodological expertise is with Qualitative research. She successfully led an academic – industry service development innovation to advance the symptom monitor and track feature within the CogniCare App to support family carers of people with dementia in 2019.

Her research grants include securing two externally funded PhD studentships that are focused on Technology Enabled Dementia Education and Support (TEDES) for Health Care Professionals in Rural Scotland and the role of technology and virtual access to the outdoor environment on the wellbeing of people living with dementia in a care home setting. She was recently awarded the competitive COVID – 19 Action Fund [2020] as a Churchill Fellow to design the first dementia education resource for blended learning and training of staff working in care homes: COVID – 19 Dementia Education Program for Care Homes [CODECH] which will become part of the proposed COVID – 19 Knowledge Bank in the UK.

Her track record with PGR supervision is consistently recognised with student led university awards – Recognising Achievement in Teaching Excellence for Postgraduate Research supervision in 2018 from UoS and a High Commendation from HISA [Highlands and Islands Student Association] as the Best Research / Dissertation Supervisor in 2020 at UHI.

If you are a researcher in dementia and brain health based in Scotland, and would like to have to share your work in our Research Spotlight, please get in touch.

Read more SDRC Latest

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...

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

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...

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...

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

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...