Podcast – Stronger Together: Peer Support and Community

Voice Over:

The Dementia Researcher podcast, talking careers, research, conference highlights and so much more.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Welcome to the Dementia Researcher podcast. Today we'll be exploring an incredibly important aspect of academic and research life, peer support and community. Whether you're just starting out in your career, or you've been working in the field for years, being part of a supportive network can be transformative. And today we'll introduce you to three communities that could make all the difference.

I'm Dr. Megan Rose Readman, and I'm an NIHR Alzheimer's Society DEMCOM fellow based at the University of Liverpool. And I firmly believe in the importance of community and peer support, both in research and academic life. So, I'm really very excited to have the opportunity to guest host today's show. I'm joined by a fantastic panel of guests who bring their own unique perspectives on peer support and community building. All of which play a key role in delivering service that could support you.

First up, we have Adam Smith representing Dementia Researcher, a global support community that has just launched a new community space and app designed to bring researchers together and foster peer support. Next, we have Oz Ismail from Alzheimer's Association ISTAART, the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment. Famous for providing a professional home for those working on Alzheimer's and related dementias, and its massive programme of support and professional interest areas. And finally, we have Josh Wright from Alzheimer's Research UK, where he's involved in building their work, delivering a UK-wide network of regional early career research networks across the UK. Delivering funding, community engagement, and much more needed network and training.

Well, together we'll be learning more about their services and exploring how peer support can make a real difference. Whether it's sharing advice, collaborating on projects, or simply knowing someone that understands the challenges that you are facing. But to start, let's get to know them a little bit better. Why don't you introduce yourselves properly? Should we start with Josh?

Josh Wright:

Okay. So, hi, I'm Josh Wright and I work Alzheimer's Research UK. So, I work within our strategic programmes team. Most notably my work involves our blood biomarker challenge. And also working with our network centres, including the researchers within them to ensure that the charity is giving our research community the best possible support.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Amazing. And Oz, would you like to introduce yourself?

Dr Oz Ismail:

Yes, thank you for having me. Hi, I am Oz Ismail. I'm the director of Scientific programmes at the Alzheimer's Association. We're based in the US but through our work we do have an international reach both through ISTAART which you introduced, which is our professional society as well as our international funding programmes as well. So, I'm excited to be here.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Thank you. And last but no means least, Adam.

Adam Smith:

Hi Megan. Thank you very much. So, I'm Adam Smith. I'm the Programme Director for Dementia Researcher, which is a service run at University College London, but funded by Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's Research UK, race Against Dementia Alzheimer's Association and the National Institute for Health Research. To try and encourage young people in the next generation of dementia researchers to think about dementia as a career option. But also, to try and improve retention of people that we already have working in dementia research and bring people working in different research fields together to learn from each other, to support each other as well. So that's what Dementia Researcher is all about.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

To start us off, let's talk about community. Oz, as a former researcher yourself, why do you think having a strong supportive network is so crucial for researchers?

Dr Oz Ismail:

I think it's really crucial, particularly early in your career. Because when I think back to my days as I started off as a research assistant and then went on to my PhD. And when you're so early in your career, what you need is that community. And by that, I mean a community of peers, both at your career level so that you can kind of work through the nitty-gritty and the challenges of whether it's being early in your career, whether it's specific to your PhD. And then also having those mid-career and senior folks in your community as well so that you can start to build those connections as you look towards the next steps, be it trying to find a postdoc or trying to find other career routes as well.

So, it's really difficult, particularly when you're a new person in a specific field. So, I mean when I first entered dementia research, specifically my bachelor's was in physiology, and then I had done some work in mouse genetics and so on. So, it's normal I think for people in a scientific career to kind of navigate through different areas. So, you always want to find that group of people who are the experts as well as who have commonality in your subject area. Professional networks are great for that. So that's why always when I was early in my career, in addition to ISTAART, I looked for other different professional networks as well so that I can then start to find my niche and find my place in the space I was working on.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

I think one of the things picking up on what you said is it's quite a unique career that we're all involved in and having people that really understand what you're going through as an early career researcher is so important. You've got all your family and friends around you, but it's quite niche. It might not be something that you can necessarily talk towards other people about. So, I think picking up on what you said that was really super important for me. What about you, Josh and Adam? Do you have any sort of reflections as to why it may be so important?

Adam Smith:

It's funny you should mention that about your parents, understanding what you do. I read a post on social media earlier today where I can't remember his name who said that his mum's tells all their family and friends, that their son is a brain surgeon. And [inaudible 00:06:35] he's a neuroscientist. But exactly that I think particularly for first generation students, I mean having people around you who can help. But I think there's that professional side of things, isn't there where you get that kind of collaboration and idea exchange? I mean you don't see single author papers; you see papers which have a whole bunch of people, and they're all coming together to support each other in the research.

But then there's also that personal side of things, isn't there? There's that kind of emotional support and career advice, and I think your networks are built up of all those people. And it's quite helpful when you're looking for your next job as well, I think not what you know, but who you know can be particularly important in academia maybe. Well maybe it shouldn't be, but I think that's also helpful being able to have people who to go get that advice from. I mean, we certainly wouldn't be able to do dementia research if we didn't have that kind of support of people around us because all of our content comes from those people.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

For sure. And I think it's so important, like for me personally, the dementia research has been really integral, because in my immediate research group, I'm the only person that looks at Lewy body dementias. So having the opportunity to connect with other people who look at Lewy body dementias across the country, but even wider across the world has been so integral. So sometimes the geographical location could be a restriction, but the services that you guys’ sort of offer take that barrier away. So, it's been fantastic in that regard. Josh, do you have anything to reflect in this manner?

Josh Wright:

Well, first by saying I've not been an academic in my career unfortunately, so I don't really have a direct experience on this. But I will say even just thinking about Alzheimer's disease on its own, it's a very complex disease, and trying to do research in this space is in itself complex. There is different approval processes and different regulations. And particularly as you're starting out in your career, it's very difficult to navigate to be honest. And I think the importance of the communities is that you can bring in so much expertise from different people and different places to actually smooth that journey along. It comes up with so many opportunities for collaboration, but also ways to improve yourself and learn from what others have done in the past.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Interesting. So, Oz, I'm just wondering, obviously we all know there was a big thing that happened, the global pandemic that really changed research as we know it. Have you sort of seen or acknowledged any differences in the need for community and peer support pre and post pandemic at all?

Dr Oz Ismail:

Yeah, absolutely. Particularly for those around towards the end of their PhD or just starting their postdoc. So, like during the pandemic, I was still in my postdoctoral training, and it was this moment where all of those opportunities... We suddenly realised that a lot of opportunities are kind of face-to-face and in person. And so, a lot of that went away because we all had to isolate in our homes or in our little pods. And that meant that things like conferences, which maybe we also took for granted sometimes or even departmental seminars where we share our work with our peers and our colleagues, they all kind of went away.

Of course, a lot of that then quickly moved virtual as well. But then the opportunity particularly to meet the wider community, so reaching outside of your university or outside of even your country suddenly went away. And it's things like that then that spurred for the Alzheimer's Association ideas like the Neuroscience Next conference, which has now continued to go from strength to strength. But it started during the pandemic specifically to cater to early career researchers who didn't have opportunities to showcase their work on an international platform.

So, for those who aren't aware of Neuroscience Next, it's a virtual conference that happens now every year and it's kind of broadcast from different countries into a virtual platform, but it comes from different international hubs. And so, when it was during the pandemic, we all kind of broadcast from our homes, and people were able to do the usual submission of abstracts and showcase what work they were doing, but now they have the opportunity to do it in person as well as virtually. But what that really taught us is that even bringing the community together virtually, there was a need for that because that also then created opportunities both for showcasing work but also to host networking sessions virtually as well.

And also, for early career researchers to say they were part of this group, they were part of this conference, they're part of this community and give some kind of validity to it. Because again, it was an international platform, it was an international conference. So, creating these opportunities is hugely important, particularly I think the pandemic showed us that.

And another thing that we at the association learned was that continuing those offerings is important. So ISTAART members continue get free access to a lot of our virtual international conferences as well. Because we know that even though the pandemic is over, it doesn't mean that people immediately have access to international opportunities. So, we continue to offer that virtual space as well at our conferences, as well as through ISTAART's virtual webinar offerings that we do ad hoc as well.

So definitely learned a lot from the pandemic happening. And I think particularly another piece to that is early career researchers, students and postdocs may not necessarily be the people with the most funding. So again, those virtual opportunities are important to remove barriers to access as well.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Definitely. And without getting my violin out, I was a first year PhD student when the pandemic started, so most of my PhD was in the middle of the pandemic. So, I don't know what it's like to have these lab group meetings all the time. I don't know what it's like to bump into members of staff in the tea and coffee room. I didn't ever have that opportunity. It was almost just me, myself and I in a room with my laptop speaking to people with Parkinson's and with dementia virtually. So yeah, it was a very unique experience and it potentially quite isolating.

So, I was just wondering, Josh, if you had any sort of reflections on how these sort of communities and peer support networks may help people in that sort of situation, who may feel slightly isolated? Because academia we all know can be somewhat isolating at times.

Josh Wright:

That's a good question to be honest. And I think, yeah, I think we've already touched on this previous comments, but yeah, I think the communities can bring together people with like-minded thoughts, experiences, hobbies even to be honest. And particularly mentioned the Covid situation, I think a lot of us come together online in different communities. I think there's uptick on Zoom quizzes and the like. I know from Alzheimer's Research UK; we ended up with loads of online channels suddenly popping up so people could discuss things like cats or photography or what they had last night. To be honest, it was anything and everything. And I think particularly the social isolation using Covid as an example that really, really helped connect people.

And I say maybe looking back to the academic side as mentioned, this is a rather big field. There's a lot of different diverse fields as well. So, you could be in university or a location where maybe you are one of the very few people actually working in that field. So having access to research community or networks we're of actually you have those opportunities to talk to others outside where you're currently located, but actually talk more about the field. And Oz said, you actually have those meeting for conversations that maybe you can't have with others that don't have that in-depth knowledge of the subject.

Adam Smith:

I was going to say, I think also as well, I think we tend to forget how many people work on their own. I think it's great if you're at where I work at UCL where there are literally hundreds of dementia researchers working on all kinds of different things. Or if you're in one of the big institutes and you're surrounded by lots of other people working dementia, but so many people aren't. I remember one of our first inspirations was talking to somebody at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge who said they were literally the only person working on dementia in their whole building.

And there are so many other people like that out there. And I think particularly the ISTAART, and the professional interest areas have absolutely led the way with that virtual support. That, I mean it was, PIAs obviously existed before the pandemic, but I think people really discovered that. And when the membership became free as well, it made all the difference to people suddenly realising that what they're doing, they're not the only people doing it. And that those communities have built up since to support those people, particularly working I think in lower middle-income countries where there's less structural support perhaps around people. But those people who are working on the researchers working on their own or in tiny groups, I think as you mentioned there, it can make all the difference having that community of people around you in different ways.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Definitely. And obviously we know the massive impact that these communities can have in terms of fostering future grant applications or developing academic knowledge. But like you've just mentioned Adam, you can't separate the wellbeing aspects that these communities may be providing. So, I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on how these communities and peer support may be supporting people's wellbeing, or any sort of reflections from your personal experience?

Adam Smith:

I mean, I definitely personally benefit, I mean I wrote a few blogs about this during the pandemic particularly, I had terrible anxiety personally. And I think I was kind of keen to write about that. I think we've always been encouraged to, or we're encouraged more these days to talk about kind of wellbeing and mental health, and I was keen that I couldn't on the one hand encourage other people to contribute or talk about this if I wasn't willing to do the same myself. So, I wrote a few blogs, and I was surprised at just how many people got in touch and went, "Oh yeah, that's exactly what it was like for me." And had I not done that, I don't think I would've realised just how common it was, what the experiences I were going through. And so that's definitely a personal kind of anecdote if you like that that made a difference during the pandemic.

And then some of those people I've been kept in touch with since we still talk, or I think people can sense these things they pick up if you're having a bad time and they'll still send messages now. I mean, social media was particularly helpful at that time. And it does concern me now, I think we know that many people are turning away from social media for all kinds of reasons, and it does concern me that it has provided such a... That in itself has provided a great community that I'm worried we're losing because of the direction social media has gone in. So, which makes it even more important that these communities we're talking about today, Dementia Researcher and Alzheimer's Society in ARUK are there to offset for those people that don't necessarily want to go to social media.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

I hadn't even thought of it like that, but it's such an important thing to consider. It's a safe space, right, the Dementia Researcher app and all the other, like the ISTAART and everything, it's a safe space where we can discuss academic but non-academic things as well. So, it's definitely really very important. And I think you guys all have done a very good job at convincing everybody that peer support and communities are so very important in the academic world that we are all in. So, I think now maybe we take a little bit of time to get into the specifics of the area of work that you are all in. Oz, tell us about ISTAART because this really, as Adam has alluded to, is the original and biggest network.

Dr Oz Ismail:

So ISTAART is a bit of a mouthful. It's the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment. It's existed now since I think 2008, and it was originally set up to really accelerate the science because we know we are now in this time where there's treatments coming online for treating Alzheimer's and dementia. But back then it was just managing symptoms and mostly focused on giving the person who's experiencing the disease a comfortable life. But now we are in this era where we can look at treatments and it's a really great and positive time for the field. So, when it started, it was all to do with accelerating research and the science towards finding a treatment.

Now the way ISTAART is structured is it has these different groups of professional interest areas, which Adam mentioned earlier. And that's really helpful because now we've grown over the years, we've kind of boomed particularly in the last couple of years post pandemic, we've grown to a size of over 13,000 members. We have over 120 countries that we reached through ISTAART. And so, the way we convene such a large group is through our professional interest areas. These are groups that are specifically focused on areas of science, so everything from the different types of dementia. So, we have professional interest areas which we call peers or PIAs. PIAs that focus on atypical Alzheimer's or frontotemporal dementia, Down syndrome. So, there could be different types of disease.

But there's also manifestations and different interventions as well. So, we have PIAs that focus on diversity and disparities, PIAs that focus on, for example, sleep. These are just a few that come to mind, but we have 30 different groups like this. So those groups kind of come together to do various activities from collaborating on scientific papers together, to hosting research webinars so that science can be shared with the international community to having a presence at our conferences, our in-person conferences as well. And yeah, so it's kind of we have different activities that we do to convene our researchers and I'm happy to talk in detail about any of those aspects.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

And without giving too much away, I must admit I'm not yet a member of ISTAART, so I'd really love to know for other people who might be in the same position as me, like how'd you go about joining. Can anyone join? Are the inclusion criteria maybe-

Dr Oz Ismail:

Yeah, yeah. I mean first and foremost; I want to say it's free for students and this was the decision that the Alzheimer's Association made particularly around the time of the pandemic to make sure that students had access to all of this good content and the latest science. So, student membership, no matter where you are, is free. So, if you are a student and you're listening, please do join. All you have to do is go to alz.org/ISTAART and you can click the join button, and it just fill out a form and say you're a student. It'll ask you some details about your studentship and then you can get in for free.

We also around that same time, made memberships free for anybody based in a low- and middle-income country. So, this is based on the criteria based on the World Bank as well as the United Nations. We look at income status as well as economic status, and anyone who falls in a low- and middle-income country or a developing economy gets free membership. So, they just have to enter their country in the form, and it takes the fee away. That's for professionals, for postdocs and for students.

Beyond that, there's discounted memberships for postdocs, and then a professional membership for all other members. It's open to anybody, so if you are a professional in this space, you can join. We don't restrict, we don't exclude anybody. So pretty much anyone is welcome to join. And by having that inclusive approach and also removing those barriers, particularly for students and learn middle income countries, I think one of the successes of why we've been able to convene such a large group. And then that's given us such a big base of knowledge and skill that we can then host all these things like webinars, host skills workshops, write papers together. So, it brings such a big group of expertise into this community that then booms the activities as well. So yeah, I think there's lots of different things I've contributed, but overall, yeah, it's open to anybody, so please do join.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

So just a quick follow up question. So, you're saying students, say if I was for example, a really excited super-keen undergraduate student that may have a personal relationship to dementia or something, could an undergraduate student join or do you just mean PhD student sort of thing?

Dr Oz Ismail:

So, it's any student who is in full-time education. The only kind of criteria there would be that you'd have to be over 18. So as long as you're over 18 and in full-time education, then you're welcome to apply for the student membership. And then also there's a lot of specific activities we have for students as well. For example, we have a volunteer programme which is called the ISTAART Ambassador programme, which has had huge success over the last couple of years as well, which is tailored to early career researchers, particularly PhD students. Which is kind like a training and mentoring programme which... And they go and then talk about ISTAART as well, and they come to our conferences and volunteer on site at our conferences as well. And that's been a real highlight for a lot of students, and it has become quite a competitive programme because of its success.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

I know in the Dem Comm fellowship there are a few members of ISTAART, and they absolutely rave about it. They all really love the community and gain a lot from it. So, from somebody if they're not a member, what would your top tips be to engaging with ISTAART and getting the most out of your membership?

Dr Oz Ismail:

I would say first and foremost, it depends on, if I'm talking to someone and they tell me, okay, I'm a student, the first thing I would say to them is, "Have you looked at our ambassador programme?" Because a really fun and exciting thing to get involved in. And that's kind of personal as well because the ambassador programme used to be the student volunteer programme at our international conference, AAIC, the Alzheimer's Association International Conference. They've had a programme for some time where they bring students to volunteer on site. I did that programme many, many years ago and loved it. It gave me access to the top names in the field because you become a member of staff kind of on site for that week, and you're in the association's branded attire. And so, it gives you the access to go and speak to anybody you want because you are a member of staff.

And so, it was great for networking. And then it also connected me with other people who were also excited about the work they were doing in this field, as well as doing those extracurricular things like volunteering at conferences. So, I built a network of really great people doing that. And also, that's how I got to know the Alzheimer's association and the work of the association. I got involved in more of the peers. And one of the things I did, again, this something I did during my postdoc days was approach ISTAART to host a series of mentoring clubs, specifically for minoritized researchers. That's kind of the ethos of ISTAART is we want people to approach us with those ideas and we try and find ways to make them happen, as long as they're meaningful for the wider community of dementia researchers and clinicians, right?

So, I think it's that, that translates as excitement is that we provide opportunities for particularly people early in their career. We're very collaborative with those people, we want to hear from our membership. And then we find if there are bespoke things that people want to do, we find ways to make that happen. And beyond that, there are the general benefits in itself. For example, discounted access to conferences if you want to come in person. We have a conference fellowship programme where if you are... We do prioritise early career researchers and that provides some discounted, if not complimentary rates as well as flights and accommodation, that sort of thing for our conferences as well.

And then we have been, over the last couple of years, we have been fortunate enough to provide free access to the virtual platform. So, all of these things I think collectively builds into this nice package or nice member experience. And we're continuing to look at how we can make that better so that people continue to engage with us over the years.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

It sounds amazing, honestly amazing. So many opportunities and so many things going around my head. Definitely going to have a look-up that tonight. So, I was just thinking, Adam, would you potentially like to share a bit more about the Dementia Researcher?

Adam Smith:

I would, although I'll pick up on one of Oz's points first as well, which is, so if you're going to attend the AIC, you get a discount if you're an ISTAART member. And the ISTAART ticket is almost discounted as much as your membership is. So, it makes no sense not... If you're going to go to the AIC, you should absolutely join ISTAART because you get the money back. It makes complete sense. And I chaired one of the peers for a couple of years and I think as a student person wanting to come forward, a student wanting to get more involved, the peers every year have picked their new executive committees or every two years or so, and they're always really super keen to get more early career research involved. Every one-off, most of those now have ECR representatives and opportunities.

And you're Lewy bodies, aren't you? And we had Ece Bayram on the podcast back in July, who's the most brilliant, enthusiastic kind of advert for a peer you've ever come across. And I know that Ece's also in the journal club that you've just started on our community app. So, if you've not joined yet, you better do because if not, I'm sure Ece will make you join quite quickly.

Anyway, so Dementia research community. Yeah, so the website's been going obviously for quite a few years, and we've always found ways to try and be more proactively bring people together rather than just publishing blogs and podcasts and content that people we know enjoy. I think some of the best feedback we had is when podcast guests were getting in touch with and saying that people had listened and got in touch with them. Or there were comments back on the blogs and content people were writing. And from the outset we've had this aim of bringing people together to support each other, and for some time been trying to find a way to do that. Because I think we tried forums in the past and they weren't necessarily, they weren't very successful.

Some of the community spaces, I think people were more comfortable using social media and as that's changed, I think over the last couple of years, seemed like a great time to start doing this. So yeah, we have this new community app, which is called Dementia Research. It's in all the app stores, you'll find it. There's also a website version and we've really tried to listen to people to say what did they want from this? I mean, inspired by ISTAART and ARUK and all the other great networks that are out there. So, we have different spaces for different things. So, we have a weekly webinar series in there that's booked right through to next September with 120 speakers over the course of the year talking on... We did one this week on how to overcome problems when research goes wrong. Next week's on how to do a VIVA.

So, there's one of every week and all the recordings are available. Then we have these discussion spaces for talking about different research areas and different career challenges. And there's some more fun ones like how to find somebody that's going to go to the same conference as you so you can buddy up or how sharing successes. And then we of course have journal clubs as well. Again, people were feeding back to us that they wanted to be in a journal club but there weren't enough people in their lab or weren't enough people at their institution that would do that. So, we've set up virtual journal clubs.

And anybody can ask to start one as well. I think at the moment we've got eight or nine on Lewy bodies and LGBTQ+ research. And we have another one on computational research, dementia prevention, Lewy body... Did I say Lewy body twice? Lewy Body... All the journal club will complain if I don't remember this one, quality of research. Sleep and dementia are another one and occupational therapy. And these are people who ask to start, so they all meet, there's like 20 members in each journal club they meet each month and just run like you would a face-to-face Journal club in your... But the great thing is that the people from around the world, so you get those different perspectives and building up these little micro communities within the bigger community but focused on a certain research field. So, there are those.

And I'm going to kick myself afterwards for failing to mention something. But we also were really keen that this wasn't just something for us. I mean we've got this platform and it's an opportunity as well for us to lend out some of the space to others who have... to other communities that want a space where they can bring people together to either meet or to do discussion groups and things. So, we also have this partner community space and so far, we've gotten people like the Dem Comm fellows have their own community space, which is private, it's just for you. We're working on one at the moment with the FTD group at UCL. Want a space again where this won't be available... It's only for the people doing FTD at UCL. And if you would like your own kind of community space, we can support and facilitate that as well to bring people together.

But it kind of chat groups, event meeting spaces and we're trying to make it kind of vibrant and exciting as we can by putting on various live streams and discussion groups. And it's still in the early days, but I think we got over almost 600 members now since we launched in the last six weeks, so it's going quite well.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

And from my perspective, I can definitely say it's great app, absolutely fantastic and I love it.

Adam Smith:

Oh, you [inaudible 00:34:39].

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

There are two things that I really like about it. One thing is that you've mentioned, I love the celebrating successors space. It's just great to see people posting on there like, "Oh submitted my thesis draught today." And everyone comments in congratulating people. There are even people that have posted on it saying, "Not great news. Got a grant rejected." And everyone's just there supporting. I'm like, "It's fine, don't worry. This happens all the time." It's just really, I just think it's a fantastic space. The other thing that I love that I don't think you mentioned, and correct me if I'm wrong, is the alerts that I get about funding calls and job opportunities. So just if I had 10 p you could explain those to us because I think it's great.

Adam Smith:

Yeah, I did forget that. So, what we've been trying to explore is creating a kind of connection between the community app and the website. So, we've always listed all the jobs and funding calls and events. And really these aren't our events, we're just syndicating other people to try and... Again, one of the aims of Dementia Researcher is to make sure we're better at making everybody aware of everything that's going on and improving uptake on some of the grants. I've spoken to so many funders over the years who've come back to me and said, "We only had three people apply." And you go, well that's rubbish, isn't it? We need to improve transparency and awareness of this. And so that's where we did.

So, we've created a connection. So, every time a new funding call goes into website, it also appears in the app. And that means we can take advantage of push notifications. So as long as you don't mind your phone dinging at you, if you're in the US possibly very early in the morning, because we do have these on UK time. If you download our app, do turn your phone into silent overnight, because you'll get a push notification and that's for all the funding calls. And we do, I mean we try to make sure; we definitely pick up on all of those in the UK. But we're also making a real concerted effort to try and make sure that we pick up on those elsewhere in the world as well. So, we do obviously all the ones from the ARUK and Alzheimer's Association. We're picking up on more of the NIH ones as well, and in Australia and across Europe to try and improve uptake. Particularly those that are open internationally to others.

And we did the same with jobs. So now if you want you can say I'm interested in jobs in molecular and cellular mechanisms and if you join that little community space, you'll get push notifications when new jobs are added as well.

The great thing is I'm still discovering that there's so many new and interesting ways to use the functionality available. We've also got courses, so courses are something we're working on at the moment to try and... We have over 3000 pages worth of blogs and podcasts and articles and things on the Dementia Researcher website. And I'm trying to at the moment corral some of this content into something that can be a kind of core into a course. So, we've got something like 45 posts across our website on VIVA preparation and doing your VIVA. So, taking all that content between the... And those are live streams and blogs and podcasts and trying to reorganise it and use that content into systematic way that makes that into a bit of a lightweight course. So, anybody who wants is coming up on their VIVA, they can do that through the app. And so, VIVA is one example which we're working on right now. But yeah, we're still working out new ways to use this.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

I'd have loved that course pre to my VIVA if that was available. Definitely-

Adam Smith:

I'm rushing out, that also... Oh no, it's too late. This podcast won't come out till afterwards, but if you're watching now, that's next week's live stream.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Amazing. So similar question to you Adam, as opposed to us, how does one get involved in the community?

Adam Smith:

It's free, it's international. I mean for the community you can just go to your app store on Apple and Android and look for Dementia Researcher and download that. If you don't want the app version, you can just go to communities.dementiaresearcher.nihr.acuk, sign up via the website version. And again, open to people of all career stages and working in all different fields of discovery. Whether you are working in fundamental science or care research or clinical, this it's for everybody. We also have created some spaces, particularly again talking to people living with dementia in our PPI group for those lived experience researchers. So, we know that there are quite a few people with who are involved in co-production studies who... So, we're providing a space for them as well. With some qualification that there's a lot of things in here that aren't aimed at those people, but keen to bring those, give everybody a space where they can talk. So, apps go to the App Store.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Thank you so much. And then Josh, I was just wondering if you would potentially be able to speak to us a little bit more about the ARUK network?

Josh Wright:

The network's actually been going for about 26 years now. Only found out the other day, yeah, that was my face as well. And we currently have about 3000 researchers spread across the UK. So, these are split into 12 regional network centres we call them. And all these centres actually lead their own events for the public but also science events as well. So, these are great opportunities particularly for ECRs to showcase their work, to chat to our people. Maybe find someone they'd possibly work with in the future. So, there's been some really good events in the past, particularly with the public as well. These are always really well received and so we always get amazing feedback from these.

Also, through the ARUK network, we offer various grants. So, these are pump priming grants, travel grants and equipment grant mostly. And these are available to be applied for by any members within the networks. And these are usually quite critical to the research community that we cater to be honest. We find that we get amazing responses from the community, particularly around the pump priming grants. People say they kickstart careers, they're something that actually for any ECRs is a great thing to have on a CV. Having currently CV, they say it's then amazing they put that on their next application. There's maybe something more competitive at the university, it's maybe not dementia specific makes much more likely to get a grant from elsewhere.

Also saying there's equipment grants as well, so people are able to get additional resources for their local spaces to help prime anything that they want to do. And also, the travel grants as well. So, another good opportunity to get people to conferences that they need to go to. And again, another great way to showcase your work and also network as well. So, we're very much focusing on supporting the research community and yeah, the networks provide a lot of opportunity for collaboration, networking and also the funding. But we're just trying to ensure that our community actually equipped to tackle any challenges and every challenge that they have ahead to be honest. And we understand that it's mentioned that it's very complex landscape, so it's making sure that everyone has what they need when they need it.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Yeah, that sounds fantastic. A very long-standing network. It's really great to hear about it. I was just wondering in terms of the regional network groups and are the activities that you guys offer, are they primarily online in person? What's the sort of setup in that regard?

Josh Wright:

That can be mixed depending on the network centres. As I said, these are led by the local researchers. So, these kids go with what the local requirement is. If there's a lot more people want a virtual events, they can do that. But every centre currently has an in-person event a year. So, these are always really well received. So, everyone come together, chat about their work, what they want to do in the near future, that's on top of the public engagement events they also do.

But also, they all seem to run workshops as well sort of help the loan development of everyone. So, these are very much focused on what the researchers in the area sort of want to do. There's been workshops on how to write CVs, or reproducibility of work fellowships. Any and all career skills, if there's a demand for it and was catered to it. It's the whole thing about being in the community is that if someone has skills and is willing to share it, then why not?

Adam Smith:

Can I jump in? I love the ARUK meets, because I've been to quite a few of their meetings over particularly actually in the last few months and they have this brilliant kind of family feel about them as well. Everybody kind of really knows each other, they work to each other, they...

And it really does have a kind of local community feel about them, which it is super warm, it's so kind of welcoming. Everybody's really nice. And you get the impression that everybody is, each local network does its own thing, but they're super local community supportive. And the funding, it makes a massive difference. That being able to provide bridge funding between posts or little, small grants to buy equipment and things, nobody else does anything like that. I don't know in the US whether you have local network equivalents or through, because you've got the chapters and everything, haven't you, that might do similar stuff but nobody else is doing this. There's no other network like ARUKs across the UK, and it absolutely makes a massive difference.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

I'm just listening here about these seed funding grants. They would make such a massive impact on my career so early. Everyone talks about the next stage to a mid-career is getting this massive grant and this elusive grant that everyone's talking about. So, if you have these seed funding opportunities, that just sounds honestly fantastic and really definitely something. I've got so much to research I'm telling you. So, all of these networks, all three networks are absolutely fantastic. And I was just wondering from all your perspectives, is there anything that you think makes them unique compared to in-person support more traditional?

Adam Smith:

See Oz is lucky, he does both. I mean they do, the whole pre-conference for AAIC I mean, it's all and huge and... The pre-conference of AAIC now is almost as big as AIC just with network activity. It's incredible. And all of ARUK's stuff is online as well. I think we don't do anything in person, maybe we should. I'm open to suggestions. But we do turn up to those conferences. That's the difference. I mean, we only exist thanks to ARUK and Alzheimer's Association and our funders to provide that community. And so, I really do think of ourselves as an extension of theirs, but we're the online bit

Dr Oz Ismail:

And I think there's huge potential in all these connecting these communities together because there is a lot of overlap between all three of these communities that we're discussing today, right? Most people probably are in that Venn diagram, they're in the middle, right? And that collective knowledge is useful for things like that pre-conference programme at AAIC because we call for submissions for workshops that we host before AAIC. And those are workshops that are hosted by experts in the field for the next generation of people moving through this field. And so even though all of these networks exist virtually, then they help in kind of disseminating information and bringing the expertise together for those in-person opportunities as well.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

What about you, Josh, do you think there's any fundamental differences between these peer support communities compared to your traditional mentorships? Is there any benefit that they extend beyond?

Josh Wright:

Between three networks, I think there is a lot of synergy between them and yeah, versus traditional networking. I think it does have the benefit of, as you mentioned before, that you don't always have the people you need to speak to locally. We're in a much more digital age now, so just emailing someone who's the other side of the country is possible. And yeah, it's a whole different world, I think 26 years ago as I was mentioning, to be honest. And I think there's massive value now to be able to find the right expertise or the right people to speak to at the right time, to be honest. And I just think that all three communities grow, which have much greater potential to utilise the people in them. And yeah, just the sky's the limit really, to be honest.

Adam Smith:

And you mentioned mentoring, that's something else I forgot about the app. You can find a mentor through it. There's a whole kind of find your mentor. We ask everybody who signs up, "Are you interested in being a mentor?" And then you can filter according to people's different research fields and where they work and things like that, what country they're in and see who's said they're willing to be a mentor. And they've all been offered to be contacted. So, you can find a mentor through the app as well.

Dr Oz Ismail:

That's also the power of having these dynamic and hybrid types of networks. Because I started as a similar thing of providing ISTAART connections, which also provides opportunities for mentors, mentees, speakers as well. So, it gives you this kind of directory, right, all of these networks, it gives you access to a directory of people, so you don't have too just... I mean in my early days I was looking for mentors within my department or within even my lab, right? But now you have this untapped potential of so many more international mentors. Because you do need diverse mentorship to succeed in your career for different aspects of your career as well. And these networks provide that, because there are these different resources that are available.

Adam Smith:

And you've got that whole online platform as well Oz, you haven't really mentioned that. You've let me dominate that kind of online space. But ISTAART also spent a massive amount of time building this brilliant online platform for discussion groups. And as you said, the whole finding people as well, it's awesome.

Dr Oz Ismail:

Yeah, it's kind of tied to our website. It's called ISTAART Community. And again, it's a space, it kind of operates like a social media space where people can post about... Even if they're posting about the successes or just posting about a paper they published, or an event they're doing. And other community members can come and comment just like any traditional social media platform. And then we have, similar to the dementia researcher community, we have groups as well. So, for all of our professional interest areas, they have their own private space where they have discussions, and we post stuff about the committees there as well. And then around our conferences we have a whole host of things that we post about conferences. And yeah, it's a very dynamic space and anyone who has a membership gets full access to that space as well. So, another reason to join.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

I think it's really great that you have these online opportunities for mentorship as well, because for me personally, I'm way too nervous to go up to somebody at a conference and ask them, Senior academics, I just freeze. I can't do it. But the opportunity to engage with these real high hitters in the field online through these different community forums that you're mentioning is really great. And for me it breaks down that social awkwardness. So, I think from somebody who's engaging with the forum, it's been very beneficial in that regard to overcome those sorts of issues. I do know there are some people who may be slightly sceptical about engaging in communities like this, and I think hopefully by now at this point in the podcast, we will look firmly convinced everyone it's a great opportunity. But do you guys have any tips or hints or any advice for people who may be still slightly sceptical?

Dr Oz Ismail:

I would say there are with ISTAART, there are opportunities for you at any stage in your career, whether you're just trying to dip your toe in and just be. Just Let all the material kind of wash over you, whether it's the newsletters we send you or the opportunities that we make you aware of. That's kind of how I started engaging with ISTAART many years ago myself. And then as I let those things would show me, I was like, okay, this sounds good to me, or this sounds relevant to me. And I started to pick at certain things. Then looking at, we do have a lot of senior members in ISTAART as well, and they drive forward things like research papers and all these big collaborations. So, it doesn't matter where in your career stage you're at, there is something for you in ISTAART. So do join or reach out to us and we are happy to help convince you.

Adam Smith:

We did a live stream earlier this week, which is a couple of weeks now by the time we listened to this, and it talked about overcoming career barriers. And everybody was talking, I kind of forgot that everybody brought this back to the pandemic and those issues of working at home, and not having people around you. And I think one of the things that these communities provide is that great place to realise that you're not on your own, whether it is a career hurdle or a research problem, whether your code isn't compiling. Or whether you are not quite there with your grant application. Or you're looking for somebody who can help you with something. I mean, I can only speak for ours, the app, although I managed, seem to speak for everybody else, that's only because I think you're all brilliant.

It's come and talk. Just come and drop those messages in there. You're going to find a warm, friendly, receptive group, whether that's at the ARUK networks or the others, or in our community app. That it's a safe space I want to say, and I think researchers are looking for safe spaces to have those conversations, to ask those questions, not necessarily in public either. And we can do that. So, if social media isn't for you, I think the community platforms can be great. But I mean not just, even if you are a social media user, I think there's lots here in these spaces for you, which is all important these days, I think to recognise that community makes a massive difference to your career and wellbeing.

Josh Wright:

I would say that I think across all three of the networks I think we've all said that there's no obligation to participate, I don't think. I think everyone is free to join. That includes ARUK Network as well. And as I said, let everything wash over you. Read the newsletters, see what messages come through on dementia research, what communication is coming from the ARUK network and just pick what feels right for you. Not everything will be for everyone, which is fine, but just knowing what's out there is probably the first step to actually getting what you need, to be honest.

Adam Smith:

I'm right in saying that there's no pressure on anybody who joins any, whether you join ISTAART or a local network or download Dementia Researcher app. That you can just passively participate and look around if you like. Read what's going on, and when you feel comfortable and ready to contribute or put yourself forward for something, you can.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

Okay, so we're almost out of time, but we have one final last question just for fun to all you guys. If your research community or network was to host the team building event with an unlimited budget, what would you organise, and why?

Dr Oz Ismail:

That's quite a question because I have to think about a team building activity for what, 13,000 members across 120 countries. So yeah, honestly, we do a lot of stuff online because our membership is so virtual, I mean so large. So, we have to do a lot of stuff virtually to have year-round engagement. So, I would probably just do throw back to pandemic days, do a cahoots you know the app that's online where you can play games online together? I'd probably do something like that.

Adam Smith:

So, you know what, I was so keen to have a good answer for this. I asked chat GPT, but I also did have one of my own.

Dr Oz Ismail:

That's me too.

Adam Smith:

I mean, obviously I write the script. But so, my own answer was I met somebody at the... I was at the Alzheimer Europe conference last week and in a social setting afterwards, a friend of a friend we met was a game designer, and they created these new immersive experiences and kind of immersive experiences and escape rooms and things. And I thought that would be great to do a lab version of that where we're we are trying to solve the pandemic. Or we're trying to fix something in an escape room. So, I quite like the idea of some kind of immersive experience on a grand scale.

And weirdly then I asked ChapGPT, and it says, we should rent a private island. Remember, budget was no object. We should rent a private island and transform it into a giant puzzle, full escape challenge. Each research group will be tasked with solving crazy scientific themes, quests from decoding genetic mysteries to curing fake zombie viruses, using research clues hidden across the island. The week would be packed with fun like treasure hunts, beach science Olympics, and maybe even an evening of researchers got talent, where everyone can showcase their hidden talents, including singing, stand-up, even nerdy science experience. Which I know Oz would be amazing at, because if you've never seen, Oz, he does stand up and has a great podcast of his own.

And at night we'd set up an outdoor cinema with science documentaries. Not sure that would be so popular. And comedies under the stars with gourmet meals, live music. And the idea would be to break the usual academic routine, creating unforgettable memories that help everyone bond in ways that would make them return to the lab, coming back like they'd been on a scientific holiday with friends.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

What about you, Josh, would you do something quite as elaborate or not?

Josh Wright:

I'm not sure I'd follow that one to be honest.

Adam Smith:

Sorry.

Josh Wright:

I was struggling with this question to begin with, but admittedly I copped out a little bit. I thought unlimited budget fine. Let's just give everyone a nice long weekend retreat. Maybe pepper in a few seminars, a couple of trust falls, they're team building, but-

Adam Smith:

A spa.

Josh Wright:

... [inaudible 00:58:26] to relax for a bit.

Adam Smith:

I quite of like, yeah. A big spa weekend.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

That sounds delightful. I was going to say-

Adam Smith:

And slightly more achievable.

Dr Oz Ismail:

Yeah, I think that's why I failed. Because I failed to look at the limited budget and went for achievable by saying cahoots. But there we go.

Dr Megan Rose Readman:

I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. If you just can't get enough of this topic, visit the Dementia Researcher website where you'll find the full transcript, biographies on our guest, blogs, and much more on the topic. I would like to thank our absolutely fantastic guests, Adam Smith, Oz Ismail, and Josh Wright. I'm Megan Rose Readman, and you've been listening to the Dementia Researcher Podcast.

Adam Smith:

Thank you.

Dr Oz Ismail:

Bye.

Adam Smith:

Bye.

Voice Over:

The Dementia Researcher Podcast, talking careers, research, conference highlights, and so much more.