Ask Your Mentor Podcast, from Dementia Researcher, in association with Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK). Mentees interviewing their mentors, talking careers, lessons learned and what they’ve discovered, that could help you forge a successful career in dementia research.

In this podcast Research Assistant Shania Ibarra from University of Oxford, interviews her mentor Dr Aitana Sogorb-Esteve, Race Against Dementia / ARUK Research Fellow from University College London.

Shania is currently a Research Assistant in the Oxford Drug Discovery Institute, University of Oxford, however she will soon be started a PhD. Her current work focusses on a project that aims to discover small molecules that modulate the neuroinflammatory pathway. Prior to this, she graduated from the University of Bath with a BSc in Biomedical Sciences. As part of her degree, she completed a year in industry at the UCL Drug Discovery Institute where she helped to develop a triculture model using primary rat neurons, astrocytes and microglia.

Aitana is a UK Dementia Research Institute (UKDRI) Emerging Leader with a Race Against Dementia (RAD) Fellowship – jointly sponsored by Prof Jonathan Rohrer and Professor Henrik Zetterberg. Her work has mainly focused on the study of novel fluid biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease, such as those related to pathology or neuroinflammation. Most recently she has been working as a postdoctoral researcher in Prof Jonathan Rohrer's lab at the Dementia Research Centre at UCL studying fluid biomarkers in Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) as part of the Genetic FTD Initiative (GENFI).

Find out more about Alzheimer's Research UK and how they support early career researchers on their website:

⁠https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/research/for-researchers/ecr/

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 listen rather than watch, you’ll find a video version of this podcast at https://youtu.be/-OIn9bgfCF8

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.

Ask Your Mentor Podcast, from Dementia Researcher, in association with Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK). Mentees interviewing their mentors, talking careers, lessons learned and what they’ve discovered, that could help you forge a successful career in dementia research. In this podcast we welcome back Dr Josie Fullerton from University of Glasgow, this time as a mentee, proving that even mentors need mentors. Josie chats with Dr Ian Harrison, Senior Research Fellow from University College London. Josie works on understanding the role of extracellular vesicles in stroke and hypertension. She is particularly passionate about the progression of Early Career Researchers, helping others to achieve their full potential and horse riding! Ian looks at the function of the glymphatic system in the brain, responsible for the clearance of protein solutes from the brain parenchyma. His lab is investigating the role of this system in neurodegenerative disease, to see if it is responsible for the accumulation of misfolded protein in disease like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and test whether we can alter its function as a therapy in these disorders. Full biographies on all our guests and a transcript can be found on our website ⁠https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk⁠ Find our more about Alzheimer's Research UK and how they support early career researchers on their website: ⁠https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/research/for-researchers/ecr/supporting-your-career/⁠ 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 watch, you’ll find a video version of this podcast on spotify and on twitter at https://youtu.be/2Qwk-DGl5ZU 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.

00:00 Introduction 01:43 Walk through Ian's Career 07:50 Cake Club 08:56 Doing a Masters 11:09 Taking the Viva 12:16 Dealing with rejection 13:31 Short-term contracts and job security 16:00 Pressure to change institutions 17:19 Applying for Fellowships 24:39 Building a new lab team 26:39 Ian's research and the glymphatic system 29:38 Managing the lab work 31:42 Worklife balance 34:58 Career Top Tips 41:01 Mentoring 45:31 Round-up and goodbyes

Ask Your Mentor Podcast, from Dementia Researcher, in association with Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK). Mentees interviewing their mentors, talking careers, lessons learned and what they’ve discovered, that could help you forge a successful career in dementia research. In this podcast experienced postdoc researcher Dr Aisling McFall, Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Glasgow interviews her mentor Dr Julie Simpson, Senior Lecturer at The University of Sheffield. Aisling works on a group of receptors called muscarinic receptors which are the target of one of the most commonly used drugs in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, she studies the M1 muscarinic receptor because this subtype is highly expressed in the brain and has been shown to be involved in cognition. The overall aim being to design better drugs for Alzheimer’s disease with fewer side effects. Julie's main research interests are identifying and understanding neuroinflammatory contributions to ageing and dementia, particularly age-associated white matter pathology. Her research primarily focusses on the detailed immunohistological characterisation and gene expression profiling of specific cell populations in the ageing brain. Full biographies on all our guests and a transcript can be found on our website ⁠https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk⁠ Find our more about Alzheimer's Research UK and how they support early career researchers on their website: ⁠https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/research/for-researchers/ecr/supporting-your-career/⁠ 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 watch rather than watch, you’ll find a video version of this podcast at https://youtu.be/oLM3Cp3vFr8 (this also includes captions for anyone who is unable to listen). 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.

00:00 Intro Credits 00:17 Introductions 02:31 Walk Julie's CV and Career 32:51 Speedy Career Tips 34:04 Tips for dealing with busy collaborators 35:10 How importance is science communications 36:14 How to balance home and work life 39:49 Finding inspiration 41:20 How to approach grant writing 44:30 Recap on the main takeaways 45:56 Mentoring 50:52 Thankyou's and round-up