Reflections on what we can learn from the ‘slow epidemic’ of dementia for the future of societies in the light of contemporary challenges.

This talk will reflect on how research into dementia across the last decades, and increasing awareness of this disorder for ageing societies has developed in the context of our current acute challenges of the pandemic and climate change. It will draw primarily on population based research programmes in which Professor Carol Brayne has been involved and led since the 1980s and how this can inform future policy, practice and research. Major findings from the research will be part of this, including the nature of the dementia syndrome, reducing risk of dementia, the place of early detection and diagnosis and care for those with dementia.

Carol Brayne CBE is a Professor of Public Health Medicine and Co-Director of Cambridge Public Health Interdisciplinary Centre at the University of Cambridge. She is a medically qualified epidemiologist and public health academic. Her main research has been longitudinal studies of older people following changes over time with a public health perspective and focus on the brain. She is lead principal investigator in the MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies and other population based studies and has played a lead role in teaching and training in epidemiology and public health at Cambridge University. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and an NIHR Senior Investigator Emeritus.

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