On Level 7 of the White City Sir Michael Uren Hub, we have a photo wall to show who we are and what motivates our science. Each photo is in a hexagonal frame to match the UK DRI logo, and they are placed in a honeycomb pattern. Each image is shown below, accompanied by a paragraph explaining what the pictures mean to members of our team.
Quotes
"The photo is of my grandparents Mario and Irene, who are both living with dementia, from one of the last trips they did together before both deteriorating in their condition. They have been a been a big inspiration for my work – I love them dearly and I hope we can improve the detection, treatment and outcomes for people with dementia in the future." Julia
"Growing up I was fascinated by the medical world and the idea of solving complex problems. Later this curiosity turned to the brain and the interaction between its innate immune system – microglia – and the parenchyma particularly with regards to neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. I think my younger self would be ‘mind blown’ to think that I now get to look directly into the brains of real people every day and investigate important questions with cutting edge technologies. This image shows a section of Alzheimer diseased brain stained for nuclei (blue), astrocytes (green), amyloid plaques (yellow) and microglia (red) using the spatial transcriptomics platform – GeoMx." Emily
"I chose to upload a photo of my mum and grandpa taken in the village where I grew up. My mum, in her late 50s, has been diagnosed with a rare form of dementia, while my grandpa, now in his 80s, shows signs of sporadic Alzheimer's disease. Despite these challenges, my mum remains the strongest and most determined person I know." Carola
"I am inspired by our brain's immune cells change in Dementia and how we can stimulate their return towards beneficial activity for the brain." Sophie
"Working in the UK DRI at Imperial gives me a rare opportunity to use both my professional experience and academic understanding to work on a subject very close to my heart. My grandpa, David, has vascular dementia. He was, and is, a great man – I hope to be like him one day, and I know for sure that despite his disease he's very proud of who I am now." Josh
Quotes
"My mother-in-law is an internationally recognised artist and equestrian. Throughout her life, she has combined her two passions and featured here is my favourite painting of hers, of one of her Arabian horses (she had 20 when we met!). Her dementia diagnosis was devastating for all the family – as it is for every family. For years she could only be found in either the stables or her studio, but the cruel tragedy is that she struggles now to paint. The work of the UK DRI gives me hope – research will help improve the lives of people living with and affected by dementia." Jennifer
"My grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease two years before passing away. I wish I would have known how to support him better or how to improve his life's quality. I like thinking that by being involved in Dementia research I am somehow helping to tackle the disease; one day every country in the world will have an action plan and a globally accepted treatment that will help families to cope with such devastating diseases." Diana
"When it all gets a bit too much, I think of this super shy little girl that liked books (and cats!). I was always told that to succeed in anything, I had to be more outspoken and social. Remembering how far we've come could be the best motivation sometimes!" Marianna
"As a young person, I found it difficult to understand my grandfather's mental decline, as he was someone who was characterised above all by his intelligence and empathy. He suffered from vascular dementia for almost 10 years. My PhD is therefore dedicated to gaining a better understanding of the vascular component in dementia." Kevin
"My first supervisor and Post Doc I worked with encouraged me to become a Lab Manager!" Megan
