Together 4 Dementia Speakers Bios
Together 4 Dementia 2022 has an incredible range of dementia experts sharing their knowledge. Below you can read a short bio on each speaker.
Ali Vowles
Today's chair is Ali Vowles. This is Ali's fourth time chairing the Together 4 Dementia conference. Ali is a BBC presenter and news reporter.
Dr George Stothart
My primary research focus is the development of a new EEG technique, known as Fastball, for assessing cognitive deficits in dementia."
Fastball is a new way of measuring brain function and is sensitive to changes in memory in Alzheimer’s disease.
Gerald King
"My name is Gerald King, but everyone calls me Gerry. I was diagnosed with young onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of 55.
Everything was set up for 65 and over and later stage dementia.
I approached our support nurse and asked if I could talk with some of her other clients, people who were of a similar age and at a similar stage.
Through that initial meeting, our peer support group STAND was formed."
Willy Gilder
"Hear why I think dementia is treated as a second-class illness, and what we should do about it!"
Willy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease affecting his parietal lobes in April 2021.
Before retiring through ill health he worked as a radio journalist and after diagnosis decided to turn his skills to furthering the fight against the stigma that surrounds dementia.
Professor Deborah Sturdy
Dr Emma Richards
"I am a senior researcher working in the Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CADR) in Swansea University.
I am currently working on topics such as Covid and dementia; hearing loss and other sensory changes and dementia; and the effects of Covid19 lockdown on people with dementia, examining the health and economic impact."
Chloe Tulip
"I am a Ph.D. Research student, kindly funded by BRACE, studying at Swansea University.
My research focuses on the role of sleep in the development of Vascular Dementia and Subjective Cognitive Decline, as well examining the role of widely available activities (such as reading) on the potential of improving sleep quality and wellbeing for people living with dementia."
Wendy Mitchell
"I was diagnosed with Young Onset Dementia on the 31st July 2014 at the age of 58 years young. I am now proud to be the author of the not one but two Sunday Times best sellers, Somebody I Used to Know, and What I wish people knew about dementia."
Weisong Yang
"After completing a MSc in Robotics at University of Bristol, I started my PhD in 2019 and I have been working on the CUBOId project since then.
My research focuses on monitoring and looking for changes in behavioural patterns in individuals with cognitive disorders in the 'real world.'
This is done by using wearable tech and a smart-home system which was developed by the Faculty of Engineering of Bristol University."
Dan Kumpik
"A born and bred Bristolian, I am currently a 2nd year PhD student at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Health and Care, Bristol University.
I am interested in using data science and deep learning to derive signatures of cognitive decline from naturalistic and interactional behaviours, with a particular focus on conversational speech. I worked as a sensory psychophysicist at Oxford University for 16 years before returning to Bristol and to my passion for dementia research.
Beyond my PhD work, I aim to develop deployable, translation-relevant computational tools for diagnosis and monitoring of cognitive decline."
Jes Phillips
Jes Phillips is a Policy and Practice Officer at the Race Equality Foundation.
Within this role she works with communities, voluntary and community sector organisations and statutory services, to research health inequalities experienced by Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and develop better practice.
In particular, she works closely with the Health and Wellbeing Alliance, a partnership between voluntary sectors and the health and care system.