Print This PostOn 17th June 2026, Dementia Researcher joined the Alzheimer’s Research UK Thames Valley Research Network for its annual research conference, a day bringing together researchers from across the region to share new findings, ideas and approaches in dementia and neurodegeneration research.
We were pleased to record a selection of talks from the event, including the main plenary lecture and five flash talks. These recordings do not represent the full conference programme, but they offer a valuable snapshot of the breadth of science presented on the day, from fundamental disease mechanisms through to applied interventions, biomarker discovery and new approaches to diagnosis.
The playlist includes Professor Paul Matthews, Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, discussing mechanisms of inflammatory neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. His plenary lecture explores the role of microglia, astrocytes, genetic risk, systemic inflammation and emerging tools that may help researchers better understand and target early disease processes.
The five flash talks showcase a wide range of current research. Helen Jolly presents work on subcellular proteomics and protein mislocalisation in Alzheimer’s disease, exploring not only how much of a protein is present, but where it is located within cells. Dr Sybille Marchese discusses new iPSC derived neuron models designed to study 4R tau splicing and tau aggregation. Dr Elizabeth Dellar shares research on cerebrospinal fluid extracellular vesicle proteomics in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and how this may help identify prognostic protein signatures. Dr Gloria Wong presents preliminary findings on brain changes in people with dementia receiving Cognitive Stimulation Therapy. Dr Kristijan Jovanoski examines whether machine learning and neuropathology can help distinguish dementia with Lewy bodies from Parkinson’s disease dementia.
Together, the talks reflect the range of methods now being used to understand neurodegenerative disease, including imaging, proteomics, stem cell models, post mortem tissue analysis, psychosocial intervention research and data driven approaches. They also show how dementia research increasingly crosses traditional boundaries, connecting molecular biology, clinical science, psychology, technology and care.
We are grateful to the Alzheimer’s Research UK Thames Valley Research Network for inviting Dementia Researcher along, and to all of the speakers who allowed us to share their work more widely.
Dementia Researcher also recorded a podcast at the conference, featuring further discussion from the event and the people behind the research. That episode will be released in the next few weeks.
