NRS Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network

22/10/2026

Do you work in Parkinson’s research? 🔬 Give people with lived experience a seat at the design table from day one.

Partners in Research brings together people living with Parkinson’s, their relatives, and others with lived experience to collaborate directly with researchers.

The group can help you shape:
✔️ Research ideas & study design
✔️ Participant materials
✔️ Recruitment
✔️ Dissemination of results
✔️ Everything in between

By embedding lived experience into your work, you can ensure your research reflects the realities and priorities of those it aims to help, and strengthen your design, interpretation, and overall impact.

👇 Read feedback from Parkinson’s researcher Maira Pyrgioti below.

Arrange a meeting with the group at: https://shorturl.at/GB0Wq

If you are a person with Parkinson's, a family member, or a carer and would like use your lived experience to help shape research, get in touch at: https://shorturl.at/gtzaJ
✉️ Or email: [email protected]

21/10/2026

👇Get in touch if you would like to be involved or share with anyone who you think might be interested....

Your experience in care homes matters 🗣️

Researchers are bringing together a small advisory group of care home staff, residents, and relatives for a project exploring how technology is being used in care homes day-to-day.



Whether you work in a care home, live in one, or visit a loved one, your experience can help shape the research and a practical toolkit to support tech use in care.

Meetings will be online and you will reimbursed for your time - take a look at the flyer below for full details👇

📧 Email [email protected] if you would like to be involved or have any questions.

21/10/2026

Eight research requests reached care homes at once. Lesley Cousland of ENRICH Scotland on making care home research work for staff, residents and researchers.

20/10/2026

We welcome this £48m investment in dementia research from the UK Government and industry partners, through the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals and the new BARBARA Alliance.

We know firsthand how challenging it can be to help people find and join the right clinical trials. The plan to create a joined-up, UK-wide system that easily links health records directly with research opportunities is a huge step forward. It will help break down some of the everyday hurdles that can stop people from taking part. This will make it easier for people to take part in research.

Ultimately, making it easier and fairer for everyone to join clinical trials helps turn scientific progress into real benefits for people living with dementia, their families, and future generations.

You can read full details of the announcement at:

PM to announce £48 million industry partnership to back dementia research and speed up the development of new treatments.

15/10/2026

In just over a week, some of our team and colleagues from Enrich Scotland will be heading out to Dublin for the Alzheimer Europe Conference ✈️

Last year, we managed to rope the team into trying a social media trend and they absolutely aced it! Check out the video below 👇 Any ideas for this year? Pop them in the comments! 💭

On a more serious note, we are pleased to have the opportunity to share some of our latest work. Members of our team and the ENRICH Scotland team will be presenting and sharing a poster. If you’re attending we’d love to see you there and connect - details below:

🗣️ Presentations:
🔺 Diane Frew: Unintended Consequences of Legislation: How Regulation Can Exclude People Lacking Capacity from Clinical Research (QOP01-10). Tuesday 27th, session time, 15.30-16.45
🔺 Denise Grassick-Munro: Trial and Error in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI)- Learning from PPI groups Partners in Research (NRS NDN) and RICH Voices (ENRICH Scotland) (P07-04). Tuesday 27th, session time, 15.30-16.45.

📌 Poster:
Rosie Ashworth: Co-Research within Patient and Public Involvement for people with experience of dementia: NRS Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network (NDN) Partners in Research (POS43-09), Thursday 29th, 10-16.00

13/10/2026

❓ Have you ever wondered why care home residents are sometimes left out of dementia research? In his new blog, our Clinical Studies Officer, Bernie, explains why this needs to change.

Care home residents make up a significant portion of the dementia population. While research in care homes can present unique challenges, Bernie argues that excluding residents creates a critical gap in dementia research, much like leaving zoo pandas out of a panda study. He warns we inadvertently scare Early Career Researchers away from these settings, when we should instead be designing more flexible studies.

People living in care homes deserve to be part of dementia research too. We must adapt to varied needs and plan carefully, rather than leaving a crucial population behind.

Read or listen to Bernie's blog on Dementia Researcher https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-pandas-dementia-and-why-we-need-to-reach-early-career-researchers/

Why are people living with dementia still left out of care home research? Bernie McInally on what early career researchers hear, and what they don't.

06/10/2026

🔥 Meet the ON-FIRE Research Team in Glasgow 🔥

We are delighted to introduce the Glasgow research team working with Cambridge University on the ON-FIRE study.

💙 Meet the team and hear why this research matters to them:

“We are the research team based in Glasgow, working with Cambridge University on the ON-FIRE study. Meet our team - Dr Claire Gall, consultant neurologist/PI and Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network (NDN) research nurses - Catriona McNeill, Linzi McCrorie and Diane Frew.

We share the commitment in making a difference to people living with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and the families who support them.

FTD is a complex and often misunderstood condition, which can have a profound impact on individuals and those closest to them. We feel privileged to meet and work with those affected by FTD and we are continually inspired by, and grateful for the generosity of those who take part in research. Every conversation and experience shared by study participants and their loved ones, helps us to understand FTD a little better.

Our hope is that, through this research, we can contribute to earlier diagnosis, improve treatments and gain a better understanding of the condition. Ultimately, working toward bringing hope, increased knowledge and meaningful change.”

✨ A huge thank you to everyone who gives their time and shares their experiences to support this important research.

05/10/2026

On - the 21st September - our Senior Research Nurse for Greater Glasgow and Clyde celebrated an incredible milestone: 17 years with the Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network! 🎉👏

We are incredibly grateful for her dedication and massive contributions to both the Network and to clinical trial research since 2009.

💜 "Despite all the scientific advances, the heart of the work has remained the same: people."

Catriona has shared a blog where she reflects on her journey over the past 17 years, the major developments she has witnessed, and her hopes for the future of research.

👉 Read her full reflection here: https://sway.cloud.microsoft/JajClXPwOR8gYzhc?ref=Link

02/10/2026

Increasing opportunities for people living in rural and remote locations to be included in research is a core mission for us at the Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network.

In her Dementia Researcher blog, Kirsty Hynes perfectly highlights what this can look like in practice. By showing how island care homes use technology to overcome geographical barriers, she demonstrates the vital importance of flexible research design. One size rarely fits all and research methods must adapt to reflect the entire dementia community -wherever they live.

👁️Read or listen to Kirsty's blog on Dementia Researcher https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/blog-no-care-homes-left-out-in-dementia-research/



Enrich Scotland

Kirsty Hynes explores why rural and island care homes must be included in dementia research, highlighting barriers, insights, and opportunities.

01/10/2026

Do you have lived experience of dementia? Research needs real voices. Yours! 💪

Whether you’re a person with a diagnosis of dementia, supporting a loved one, or a professional working with people affected by dementia, your voice can help shape meaningful research and ensure it aligns with real-world experiences and priorities.

Join our Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) group, Partners in Research, and help us create more impactful dementia research.

Choose how you’d like to get involved:
✅ Attend 'Meet the Researcher' sessions to hear about research studies and give feedback
✅ Collaborate as a co-researcher
✅ Or anything in between - you decide the level of involvement that is right for you.

📝 Register your interest at: https://lnkd.in/e25ZjWYE Joining Partners In Research- NDN (or follow the qr code below)
✉️Or get in touch at: [email protected]