Andrew Chidgey is Director of External Affairs at Alzheimer's Society, leading a team that works to make dementia a high priority on the public and political agenda. Andrew has worked at Alzheimer's Society for over 10 years and has advised politicians, policymakers, the NHS and local authorities. He was the society's lead in working with the Department of Health to write the National Dementia Strategy and was also responsible for bringing together the Dementia Action Alliance. A frequent media spokesperson, he has written reports including The Dementia Tax and When does the NHS pay for care?


Back to top of page

Julia Botsford is a trained general and mental health nurse. In 1994 she began her association with Admiral Nursing. Since then her work has continued to be with families living with dementia and on supporting the development of best practice in this area.

Julia has held a number of posts including Community Mental Health Team Leader, Admiral Nurse Lecturer Practitioner and Admiral Nurse Researcher Practitioner. In 2010 she completed a PhD exploring the impact of dementia on partners of people with dementia within the Greek Cypriot and African Caribbean Communities.

In her current post Julia combines a clinical role within Barnet, Enfield and Haringey NHS Trust alongside a role within Dementia UK, in which she contributes to the practice development strategy for Admiral Nurses, with a special focus on the development of the research agenda. She currently holds an honorary research fellowship at City University.

Presentation: Improving care, improving quality of life

There are currently 800,000 people living with dementia in the UK, costing society over £23bn per annum, twice the cost of cancer. With a prediction of over a million people by 2021, there is no denying the extent of the problem and the need for committed focus in tackling the issues. Sadly, people are still not living well with dementia. How can this be changed so that the quality of life of both people diagnosed with dementia and carers can be improved?

Back to top of page

Martin Green has had an extensive career in NGO development, both in the UK and internationally, and is Chief Executive of the English Community Care Association, the largest representative body for independent social care services in the UK. He is also Vice-Chair of the International Longevity Centre and a Trustee of the National Aids Trust.

In 2012, in his role as Department of Health Independent Sector Dementia Champion, he led the development of the Dementia Care and Support Compact for the Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia.

He is also a member of the Secretary of State for Health's Stakeholder Board; a Dignity Commissioner; a Lambeth Transformation Commissioner; a member of the Nursing and Care Quality Forum; a board member of the National Institute for Health Research (School of Social Care) and a founder trustee of the National Skills Academy for Social Care. In 2008 he was named Care Personality of the Year and was awarded an OBE for Services to Social Care in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Martin Green writes and broadcasts extensively on social care issues, and is on the editorial board of Community Care Market News.

Presentation: Responding to the dementia challenge

The independent care sector is one of the most important elements of care and support for people who have dementia. The sector has responded to the Prime Minister's challenge by developing a Dementia Care and Support Compact, setting out the commitment to supporting the delivery of the National Dementia Strategy.

Back to top of page

Eric Karran joined Alzheimer's Research UK in 2012 and has responsibility for high-level external representation of the charity as well as driving forward its research strategy.

Eric has extensive dementia research experience gained from working in the pharmaceutical industry, holding senior positions in neuroscience drug discovery research groups (most recently Chief Scientific Officer at Janssen Pharmaceuticals in Belgium), focusing on finding therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease. He has interacted widely with leading academic groups in the UK, Europe and the USA, as well as working with public funding agencies such as the MRC.

Presentation: What's new on the research front

With an urgent need to better diagnose, treat and prevent dementia, what breakthroughs have been made in understanding the causes? With funding doubling to over £66m per year by 2015, what impact can future research have on treatment, best practice and quality of care?

Back to top of page

Dieter Grossegger completed his academic studies as an electronics engineer at the Technical University of Vienna, Austria. He earned his PhD in biomedical engineering as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Miami, USA.

In 1980 he founded a company in Vienna, Austria dedicated to the development of diagnostic products for neurophysiology. Today, the company's alpha-trace product line offers state-of-the-art solutions for EEG, neurography, and polysomnography. In current research he is pouring his EEG know-how into cutting-edge projects in society relevant fields such as learning, ageing, dementia and improving our minds.

Heinrich Garn finished his studies in communication engineering at the Vienna University of Technology in 1985. He received a PhD from the Vienna University of Technology in 1990 and has been teaching at the Vienna University of Technology since 1992. In 2004, he received a Master's of Science in Communication and Management from the Donau-Universität Krems, Austria.

Heinrich started his professional career as a scientist in the Austrian Research Centre Seibersdorf GmbH. His research was on biological effects of electromagnetic radiation. He founded the accredited electromagnetic compatibility test laboratory Seibersdorf. He also founded the Austria Chapter of the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society and served as chairman from 1993 to 1998. From 1993 to 2000, Heinrich served as Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility. He is an accredited court expert and expert for laboratory accreditations.

From 1994, Heinrich was head of the industrial electronics department, 1997 head of electronics division, and from 2000 to 2008 head of information technologies division of the Austrian Research Centers GmbH. He founded the Advanced Computer Vision GmbH, a competence centre for digital image processing and served as scientific managing director from 2002 to 2008. Since 2009, he has been the head of the neuroinformatics business unit of the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (formerly Austrian Research Centers GmbH). His research interests are in sensor and biosignal processing. He has authored 67 reviewed publications in scientific journals and contributions to international conferences.

Presentation: EEG in the diagnostics of Alzheimer´s Disease

Presenting a brief overview of how EEG compares to other methods in clinical dementia diagnosis.

Back to top of page

Alistair Burns is Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at The University of Manchester, Clinical Director for the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC), an Honorary Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist at the Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust (MMHSCT), and the National Clinical Director for Dementia in England at the Department of Health.

Alistair graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1980 and trained in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry in London. He became the Foundation Chair of Old Age Psychiatry in The University of Manchester in 1992, where he has been Head of the Division of Psychiatry and is a Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, with responsibility for liaison within the NHS. He has been Director of Research and Development in the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Trust (UHSMT) and also Non-Executive Director and Vice-Chairman of that Hospital Board. He set up the Memory Clinic in MMHSCT and helped establish the old age liaison psychiatry service in UHSMT.

Alistair is a Past President of the International Psychogeriatric Association, is on the board of the European Association of Geriatric Psychiatry, joint chair of the UK Alzheimer's Society Medical and Scientific Panel and was an Associate Director of the UK Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases Network (DeNDRoN). He is Editor of the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Assistant Editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry, and is on the Editorial Boards of International Psychogeriatrics and Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. His research and clinical interests are in mental health problems of older people, particularly dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and he has published over 300 papers and 25 books.

Presentation: Making dementia a national priority

With an estimated rise in people living with dementia to a million by 2021, and 1.7 million by 2051 – plus a rise in costs to £27bn by 2018 – it is little wonder that the government views the current situation as a national crisis requiring committed focus. An increase in funding for research is welcome news, but how else does the government plan to improve the outcomes and quality of life for both people living with dementia and carers?

Back to top of page

Ann Johnson is a trained nurse and was a lecturer in nursing at the University of Manchester until her retirement in 2005. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at the age of 52. Ann is now 58.

Ann speaks throughout the country of her experience of 'Living with Alzheimer's' and associated subjects. She also speaks to the media and organisations at regional and national level.

Ann is an ambassador for Alzheimer's Society and is able to help the society in their work by speaking at various events and to the media on their behalf.

Ann now lives in a care home because of her Alzheimer's disease and shares in, and experiences, the day-to-day life of the care home.

Presentation: Living with dementia

A moving account and insight as to what it means to live with dementia and how it is not just the patient that it affects.

Back to top of page

David Jolley is presently Consultant Psychiatrist and Hon Reader at PSSRU Manchester University, Hon Consultant at Willow Wood Hospice and Gnosall Medical Centre.

His publications and presentations provide understanding and information about old age – covering a wide range of topics. David's current main interests include: providing services within primary care, holistic care support throughout the course of dementia and other mental disorders, including terminal care.

David is Patron of Dementia UK and was previously Chairman of the Section (now Faculty) Old Age Psychiatry RCPsych 1989-1994. He was Medical Director and Professor of Old Age Psychiatry Wolverhampton 1995-2003.

David is a pioneer in the development of services: recruitment and training for mental health problems amongst older people: South Manchester 1975-1995, Wolverhampton 1995-2006, Tameside and Glossop 2006-2010.

Presentation: The Gnosall project

The Gnosall dementia service is a primary care-based older people's mental health service that is designed to improve access, reduce diagnosis time and develop value-added interventions to improve the care of patients with dementia. This service at the Gnosall Health Centre has helped to reduce the diagnosis period for dementia from the national average of three years to just four weeks. Further information is available at www.gnosallsurgery.co.uk/clinics-and-services.aspx

Back to top of page

John Kennedy attended Manchester University where he gained a degree in economics.

John was appointed Director of Care Services in January 2004. He currently manages a mixed portfolio of care homes, retirement villages, domiciliary care and independent living schemes in York, Leeds, Scarborough and Hartlepool.

In addition to his role in JRF, John is also a trustee of the Wilberforce Trust - a charity providing accommodation and services to adults with learning disabilities and a visual impairment. He is a foundation governor at Joseph Rowntree School and a director of the National Care Forum (NCF), the national organisation representing not-for-profit providers of care services.

John has recently acted as a commissioner on two commissions: a Review of Health Services in York and North Yorkshire, which reported in July 2011; and on the 'York Fairness Commission', which reported on 28th November 2011.


Back to top of page

Matthew Norton graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2005 and the University of York in 2009. Between 2005 and 2009 he was a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of York and conducting his PhD in Gerontology. During his PhD he was seconded to the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit to work on older people's social care issues. After finishing his PhD he worked for the NHS National Institute of Health Research advising clinicians on research design and supporting the development of funding proposals.

Since 2011 Matthew has been Social and Economic Research Manager at Age UK where he leads the programme of social research and evaluation. In this role he contributed to the development of Futurage: A Road Map for Ageing Research, a European Commission funded project that sets out a definitive road map for ageing research in Europe for the next 10-15 years.


Back to top of page

Before taking on the Clinical Director role at the beginning of 2012, Amanda Thornton was the Lead Psychologist for older adults for 6 years and has worked clinically with older people since qualifying in 1999. As a member of the Adult Community Senior Management Team, Amanda has worked as a Clinical Lead on many projects on behalf of Adult Community Services. Her most recent Clinical Lead role was a huge undertaking and involved acting as the Clinical Lead for a Dementia Level 3 QIPP, which essentially involved building a Case for Change around how dementia services are delivered across the whole of Lancashire. Amanda continues to sit on the Lancashire Dementia Expert Reference Group delivering on whole system change and remains passionate about transforming services for older people.


Back to top of page