Meet the Engaging with Dementia team

The Engaging with Dementia project brings together the many researchers based at the University of Leeds, whose work encompasses Alzheimer's Disease.

Prof Tony Turner is one of our longest-standing Alzheimer's researcher and, together with Dr Natalia Nalivaeva, has been researching into the production and removal of the β-amyloid peptide, whose neurotoxic action is thought to be a key factor in Alzheimer's Disease.

Prof Nigel Hooper until April 2014 was Dean at the Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds. Prof Hooper has now made the move west to Manchester where he and his group will continue to look into the production of  β-amyloid peptide and its interaction with the prion protein. However, the Hooper group is not severing all ties and will continue to have close links with other researchers at Leeds and also with the Engaging with Dementia project. The other members of the Hooper group who will be active on the project include Dr Heledd Griffiths and Dr Kate Kellett, and postgraduate researchers Beth Noble and Rob Andrew.

Prof Chris Peers and Dr John Boyle both focus on the role of gases in the triggering and progression of Alzheimer's Disease. In particular, short periods of low oxygen in the brain, termed hypoxia, have been found to have long term consequences of raising the risk of the development of Alzheimer's Disease.

Dr James Duce recently moved to the University of Leeds all the way from Australia, where he still has a research group. His interest is in the role of metal ions in Alzheimer's Disease, particularly iron. Iron is required by the brain for maintenance and healthy function but too much can be toxic - and it is this regulation of iron levels that appear to be compromised in Alzheimer's Disease.

Another active member of the Engaging with Dementia team (and the one most likely seen on a bike) is Dr Hugh Pearson. Dr Pearson's work looks at the electrical signalling of the brain cells and how the β-amyloid peptide changes this. Far from just being a disease causing agent, correctly controlled  β-amyloid peptide appears to have a normal and necessary role in brain function.

Dr Jean-Francois Delvenne is the newest member of the Engaging with Dementia project, having only just moved into Alzheimer's Disease research. With a background in cognitive neuro-psychologist, his current research interests focus on visual attention and memory. As part of this, he has just started on a project to investigate whether it is possible to use changes in the visual system to help earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. Working alongside Dr Delvenne, Dr Melanie Burke will be bringing  her expertise in the cognitive changes that occur during dementia along to the 'Healthy Brains at Leeds' event, along with students Seline Ozer, Rebecca Haynes, Amy Smith, and Lara Charlesworth.

Alzheimer's Disease is not the only form of dementia, nor it alone in involving a short peptide that self-assembles into larger fibres, or amyloid fibrils. Dr Eric Hewitt's work looks at the broader class of amyloid diseases and addresses the question of how these fibrils form and their role in the disease process.

And finally, but not least, the project is being headed by Dr David Lewis. While Dr Lewis' area of research is not directly linked to dementia, his teaching interest in public engagement and research ethics will help to guide the activities of the project. He is being assisted in these efforts by Juliet Jopson, whose background in science communication may yet come in handy.