There is a lot of interest in understanding blood tests to diagnose Alzheimer's Disease. It's a topic discussed many times on the Dementia Researcher Podcast - covering how we might use them, and the science behind them. With the UK announcement of a new NIHR, Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's Research UK Project to test and implement dementia blood tests into the mainstream NHS over the next 5 years, we brought together this playlist. Sharing discussion with leading experts to explore how dementia is currently diagnosed, how this will change and the science behind the blood based biomarker / dementia blood tests.

Learn about Blood Tests for Alzheimer's Disease

Whilst everyone may experience dementia and its symptoms differently, the pathway to diagnosis is very similar for most people, but could all that be about to change?

This week Adam Smith, speaks to a Psychiatrist, a Neurologist and a Scientist. They discuss the current diagnosis pathway, the tests involved, and how that could change as with the development of blood based biomarkers. Exploring the science behind the new tests, their  development, and how these new tests could be used in frontline services to improve accuracy, support clinical trials and to improve care – and is the NHS ready?

This week’s guests are:

Dr Elizabeth Coulthard, Consultant Neurologist and Associate Professor at University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust.

Dr Josie Jenkinson, Consultant Psychiatrist for Older People and Clinical Academic at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Trust.

Dr Amanda Heslegrave, Senior Research Fellow focussed on Biomarkers in Neurodegeneration at the UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London.

Emerging blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer disease are an exciting new development. They could provide an accessible, easy to delivery and inexpensive screening tool. Looking to the future, when disease-modifying or prevention treatments will be available, investigators are focused on how to detect the earliest biological signals of Alzheimer disease, perhaps even years or decades before clinical symptoms appear – and that’s when these tests could really become essential. However, how could they be used now? Could they improve accuracy of diagnosis? Replace the need for other more expensive tests? Ensure we no longer have to send people home, telling them they have Mild Cognitive Impairment? Reduce misdiagnosis?

Patients and their families want to know, Is this Alzheimer disease, or something that can be reversed? Can we answer that question now? And Could this new biomarker help? All will be discussed in this weeks show.
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You can find out more about our panellists, and their work on our website:

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk

A transcript of this podcast is also available here

https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/podcast-diagnosing-dementia-now-and-in-the-future
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This podcast is brought to you in association with Alzheimer's Research UK and Alzheimer's Society, who we thank for their ongoing support.

Diagnosing Dementia - Now and in the Future

The Dementia Researcher, ISTAART Relay Podcast is back for a third, 5-part series. Where the interviewee becomes the interviewer. With five leading researchers discussing their research, their field, and the work of the Alzheimer’s Association ISTAART Professional Interest Area they represent.

Part Five – Erica Dove interviews Professor Charlotte Teunissen, representing the Biofluid Based Biomarkers PIA.

Erica Dove is a third year PhD Student, studying at University of Toronto. Her research aims to co-develop an exercise video game designed to reduce falls risk among people with dementia. Inspired to work in dementia through personal experience, when not at work, she can be found obsessing over floral patterns (Yes really). Erica is representing the ISTAART Technology and Dementia PIA.

Charlotte Teunissen is a Professor in Neurochemistry at Amsterdam UMC. Charlotte explores Biomarkers in body fluids, such as cerebrospinal fluid and blood, to understand the disease and improve care for neurological diseases, especially dementias and Multiple Sclerosis. She is representing the ISTAART Biofluid Based Biomarkers PIA.

The Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART) convenes the global Alzheimer’s and dementia science community. Members share knowledge, fuel collaboration and advance research to find more effective ways to detect, treat and prevent Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Professional Interest Areas (PIA) are an assembly of ISTAART members with common subspecialties or interests.

There are currently 29 PIAs covering a wide range of interests and fields, from the PIA to Elevate Early Career Researchers to Biofluid Based Biomarkers and everything in between.

To sign-up to ISTAART (free for students worldwide, and for people of all grades in Low and Middle Income Countries) and a PIA visit:
http://www.alz.org/istaart

To book your place at this years AAIC Confernence visit:
https://aaic.alz.org/

Visit our YouTube Channel to watch the video version of this podcast:
https://youtu.be/WvCGBmnVElE

Find more information on our guests, and a full transcript of this podcast on our website at:
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/istaart-relay-podcast-biofluid-based-biomarkers-pia/

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Like what you hear? Please review, like, and share our podcast - and don't forget to subscribe to ensure you never miss an episode.

This podcast is brought to you in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK and Alzheimer's Society, who we thank for their ongoing support.

ISTAART Relay Podcast - Biofluid Based Biomarkers PIA

Over the past decade, blood-based biomarkers for dementia have been increasingly studied as way to diagnose and track the progress of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. In this podcast three leading blood-based biomarker pioneers come together to discuss the field, their research and motivations, current challenges and future directions of this field of research (they also reveal a little about themselves as people away from the lab too – find out which if them wants to drive refuse trucks…).

In the host chair is Dr Nicholas Ashton, Associate Professor of Neurochemistry from University of Gothenburg and King’s College London. Nicks has more than a decade of experience in biofluid analysis and assay development for Alzheimer’s disease, which ranges from discovery mass spectrometry methods to ultra-sensitive immunoassays. Recently this has produced ultra-sensitive single molecular array (Simoa) assays for phosphorylated tau in blood, which are now widely used in research settings, therapeutics trials and being validated for clinical use.
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Nick’s guests are:

Oskar Hansson, Professor of Neurology & Senior Consultant in Neurology at Lund University in Sweden. Oskar explores fluid and imaging biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders. His inspiration came at medical school when diagnosing dementias. It became clear to him that we needed to be able to identify these diseases before widespread neurodegeneration and disabling symptoms have already developed. At these early disease stages, we are more likely to substantially slow down or even stop the disease progression by different types of interventions.

Henrik Zetterberg, Professor of Neurochemistry, Senior Consultant in Clinical Chemistry, Head of Department at UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London and University of Gothenburg. With a background in molecular biology and medicine, Henrik has have spent the last 15 years developing biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders - becoming a world expert in the process. He has published more than 1100 scientific articles and has received numerous awards.
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If you’re listening to this podcast, you probably already know that Biomarkers are proteins, molecules, or other measurable substances that can provide valuable insight into diagnosing and measuring the progression of a medical condition or disease. For a many years researchers have been exploring the potential of what can discover from blood, to help diagnose Alzheimer’s and other Neurodegenerative diseases.
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You can find out more about our panellists, and their work on our website. There you will also find a full transcript:
https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk
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Like what you hear? Please review, like, and share our podcast - and don't forget to subscribe to ensure you never miss an episode.
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This podcast is brought to you by University College London / UCLH NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in association with Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia who we thank for their ongoing support.

Blood Based Biomarkers for Dementias

Great progress has been made over the past decade in the development of blood based bio-markers to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. However, other areas have been quietly working away, and have also made significant progress.

In this podcast we explore two of the newest and most innovative technologies being applied to detect biomarkers for dementia – looking at the retina and brainwaves. 

Dr Amanda Heslegrave, Senior Research Fellow at the UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London and one of the people behind the progress being made in blood-based biomarker field is out guest host. 

This weeks guests are:

Dr Catherine Bornbaum, Head of Clinical Operations and Partnerships at Retispec. Catherine, uses innovative imaging technology combined with robust machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect biomarkers of neurodegenerative disease throughout the eye. The eye provides a simple and non-invasive way to measure the central nervous system; it is also the only organ where both neurons and blood vessels can be directly visualized at micron-level resolution.

Dr George Stothart, Senior Lecturer at University of Bath. George is a cognitive neuroscientist who translates the findings of cognitive neuroscience into useful tools for clinicians and the wider world. His primary research focus is the development of a new EEG technique, known as Fastball, for the assessment of cognitive deficits in dementia. Fastball EEG is a completely passive test which measures brain waves the patient looks at a series of images on a computer screen over two minutes – a completely new assessment technique.

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For more information visit:

https://www.retispec.com/
https://www.bath.ac.uk/projects/fastball-mci/
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Full biographies on all our guests and a transcript can be found on our website https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk
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Like what you hear? Please review, like, and share our podcast - and don't forget to subscribe to ensure you never miss an episode – and if you prefer to watch rather than listen, you’ll find a video version of this podcast with full captions on our YouTube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/dementiaresearcher 
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This podcast is brought to you by University College London / UCLH NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in association with Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia who we thank for their ongoing support.

Smart New Ways To Diagnose Dementia

A five-part special relay podcast series, where the interviewee becomes the interviewer. With five leading researchers discussing their research, their field, and the work of the Alzheimer’s Association ISTAART Professional Interest Area they represent.

Part One - Professor David Scott interviews Professor Henrik Zetterberg

David Scott is Director of the Department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine, St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and Professor, School of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Australia. David is researches Perioperative Neurocognitive Disorders – in particular, delirium and cognitive decline associated with anaesthesia and surgery. He is representing the Perioperative Cognition and Delirium PIA. 

Henrik Zetterberg is Professor of Neurochemistry, Senior Consultant in Clinical Chemistry and Head of Department at The Sahlgrenska Academy within the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and University College London, UK. Henrik’s work is focused on Fluid biomarkers for neurodegenerative dementias. He is representing the Biofluid Based Biomarkers PIA.
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This podcast series is brought to you by Dementia Researcher.
You can find out more about our panellists, and their work on our website www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk. A transcript of this podcast is also available here https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/podcasts
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The Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART) convenes the global Alzheimer's and dementia science community. Members share knowledge, fuel collaboration and advance research to find more effective ways to detect, treat and prevent Alzheimer's and other dementias. Professional Interest Areas (PIA) are an assembly of ISTAART members with common subspecialties or interests.

There are currently 25 PIA covering a wide range of interests and fields, from the Alliance of Women Alzheimer's Researchers (AWARE) PIA to Biofluid Based Biomarkers and everything in between.

To sign-up to ISTAART and a PIA visit www.alz.org/istaart/
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Throughout July 2020, Dementia Researcher is giving you a chance to win a pair of Beats Studio Headphones. To be in with a chance to win, complete three east steps:

1. Leave us a review on iTunes
2. Register and attend one of our webinars
3. Register on our website.

Winner will be chosen at random on the 1st August, and announced via Twitter follow-us @Dem_Researcher

For more information visit www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk
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Finally, the views and opinions expressed by guests in this podcast represent those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect those of NIHR Dementia Researchers, PIA membership, ISTAART or the Alzheimer's Association.

A biweekly podcast for early career researchers, bringing together fantastic guests to discuss their research, careers + much more. 

Dedicated to sharing the science, encouraging collaborations, attracting more people to the field, and supporting those already here to succeed.

Brought to you by https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk at University College London, in association with Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia - everything you need, all in one place. supporting early career researchers across the world

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