On Monday 13 March 2023 we held a full day for early career researchers with sessions designed to support those at the early stages in the dementia research field.
Early Career Day programme committee
The Early Careers Day programme has been formed by researchers from the Alzheimer’s Research UK Scotland and North Network Centres.
- Dr Zara Franklin (Chair) – University of Aberdeen
- Inga Schmidt – University of Aberdeen
- Philip Hoffman – University of Aberdeen
- Abdullah Al-Ani – University of Aberdeen
- Maria Cacho Barraza – University of Aberdeen
- Dr Fiona McLean – University of Dundee
- Tabitha Broadbelt – University of Edinburgh
- Dr Claire Durrant – University of Edinburgh
- Dr Paul Baxter – University of Edinburgh
- Dr Conor McQuaid – University of Edinburgh
- Dr Josie Fullerton – University of Glasgow
- Dr Lauren Walker – Newcastle University
- Dr Daniel Erskine – Newcastle University
Early Career Day Programme
9.30 - 9.40am
ARUK welcome
9.40 - 10am
Supporter talk
Cath Baxter (ARUK Supporter)
10 - 10.30am
Keynote talk
Prof Craig Ritchie (The University of Edinburgh)
10.30 - 11am
PhD talks
Chair: Dr Josie Fullerton (University of Glasgow)
Analysing Alzheimer’s disease candidate genes across neurofibrillary tangle burden through targeted bisulfite sequencing in the prefrontal cortex
Greg Wheildon (University of Exeter)
Disrupted functional connectivity in cognitively healthy young individuals with genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s Disease
Ludmila Kucikova (The University of Sheffield)
11 - 11.30am
Break
11.30 - 11.45am
Flash presentations
Chair: Philip Hoffman (University of Aberdeen)
Gene expression analysis of infection in Alzheimer’s disease brain.
Giulia Pegoraro (University of Exeter)
Investigating the role of microglial senescence in central nervous system injury and repair
Sarah Kent (The University of Edinburgh)
The inflammatory gene PYCARD of entorhinal cortex as an early diagnostic target for Alzheimer's disease
Dr Yisong Yang (Queen Mary University of London)
Optimising astroglial differentiation from induced pluripotent stem cells (ipscs) to model alzheimer’s disease
Fehrish Sheikh (University of Central Lancashire)
11.45am - 12.45pm
PhD talks
Chair: Dr Zara Franklin (University of Aberdeen)
Mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in progranulin-related frontotemporal dementia
Javier S. Bautista (University College London)
GWAS of plasma complement protein levels reveals functional effects of Alzheimer's disease risk loci
Aurora Veteleanu (Cardiff University)
Oral infections and neurological sequala in vascular dementia: chronic oral infections pre-sensitise white matter to ischaemic injury
Alexander Mellor (Plymouth University)
Investigating the role of presynaptic tau in ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease
Emily Groves (King's College London)
12.45 - 1pm
Flash presentations
Chair: Dr Paul Baxter (The University of Edinburgh)
Depth-resolved fibre photometry for Alzheimer’s disease plaque pathology in vivo
Nicole Byron (University of Strathclyde)
Researching the ability of prior experience to influence subsequent learning in early amyloid pathology and healthy aging
Tabitha Broadbelt (The University of Edinburgh)
Epigenome-wide association study of amyloid-β immunised Alzheimer's disease cases highlights novel differential methylation across prefrontal cortex
Lachlan MacBean (University of Exeter)
Tandem Mass Tag-based proteomics in the GENFI cohort: the discovery of novel biomarkers for genetic frontotemporal dementia.
Dr Aitana Sogorb Esteve (University College London)
1 - 2pm
Lunch
2 - 3pm
Parallel session
Option 1: A conversation on narrative CVs
Chair: Inga Schmidt (University of Aberdeen)
Hilary Noone (UK Research and Innovation)
Prof Patrick Lewis (Royal Veterinary College)
Mr Cian Rynne (Durham University)
Dr Rosa Sancho (Alzheimer's Research UK)
Option 2: Reproducibility in research
Chair: Dr Fiona McLean (University of Dundee)
Dr Annesha Sil (University of Aberdeen)
Prof Malcolm MacLeod (The University of Edinburgh)
Matt Hodgkinson (UK Research Integrity Office)
3 - 3.30pm
Break
3.30 - 4.30pm
Parallel session
Option 1: Mentoring for ECRs
Chair: Dr Lauren Walker (Newcastle University)
Dr Josie Fullerton (University of Glasgow)
Dr Ian Harrison (University College London)
Dr Nathan Woodling (University of Glasgow)
Alexis Hutson (Coaching Doctors, NHS)
Option 2: Post-award: building independence
Chair: Dr Claire Durrant (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Petroula Proitsi (King’s College London)
Dr Daniel Erksine (Newcastle University)
Dr Greg Findlay (University of Dundee)
4.35 - 5.20pm
Careers panel
Co-chairs: Tabitha Broadbelt (University of Edinburgh) & Dr Paul Baxter (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Louise Kay (The Scottish Government)
Dr Jill Fowler (The University of Edinburgh)
Dr Chris Moffat (Promega)
Dr Maria Eugenia Herva Moyano (Charles River Laboratories)
5.20 - 5.30pm
Closing remarks
6.30pm
Social event at Soul Bar in central Aberdeen
Early Careers Day Networking event
Join us for an evening of networking with your fellow Early Career Researchers at the fabulous Soul Bar Aberdeen on Monday 13 March 2023. Food and a welcome drink will be included in the ticket price with more activities to be confirmed. Ticket price is £20 (excl. VAT) and you can only attend this if you purchase an in-person ticket for the Early Careers Day.