Dr Elizabeth Coulthard is a FLIER participant and Associate Professor in Dementia Neurology at the University of Bristol. She tells us what she has learned on the FLIER programme and how this is helping her offer new solutions to challenges.
Q: What issue in health research do you want to take on and why?
A: Every week I diagnose people with dementia, but we still cannot offer treatment that slows down progression of the disease. I believe we can change this. To offer effective treatments, we need to take scientific and technological advances and try them out with different groups of patients. This takes collaboration between clinicians, laboratory scientists, pharmaceutical and technology companies, regulatory authorities, policy makers and, most importantly, patients. Thanks to research, we now understand that brain health often depends on many different factors including lifestyle, sleep and diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Using a personalised approach, we now aim to offer everyone with concerns about their memory a tailored approach to minimise their risk of dementia.
Q: What have you learnt on the FLIER programme and how are you putting it into practice?
A: The FLIER cohort is a great platform to meet people from different backgrounds who understand the varied aspects that are involved in running clinical trials and developing treatments that make a difference for patients. I have learned that even brief discussions with people from different sectors can offer new solutions to challenges. I’ve also learned that people are often very generous with advice and introductions, and this can make a real difference to a project.
Q: What have you done as a result of FLIER?
A: One of our aims is to help people who are in the very early stages of dementia to adopt healthier behaviour or use treatments that help preserve their brain health. We can use devices such as mobile phones to send reminders to patients and to record their activity when they’re taking part in clinical trials. Thanks to conversations I’ve had via the Academy, I’m now working with a small company to use a mobile phone app in one of our trials. We are just about to start testing this and it might really help us carry out research at scale.
Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?
A: Don’t be too put off by rejection. Talk to as many people as possible and practice before interviews.
Q: What are your hopes for the future in your work?
A: For every patient who comes to clinic with concerns about their memory, I hope to offer an accurate diagnosis, a personal risk profile and some effective therapy.
Dr Elizabeth Coulthard is a participant in Round 2 of the Academy of Medical Sciences’ FLIER programme, a unique programme that will develop leaders of the future who can create collaborations across academia, industry, the NHS and government to drive innovation.
The FLIER programme is generously supported by the Dennis and Mireille Gillings Foundation and the Government Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ‘Investment in Research Talent’ fund. You can find out more about our funding model and explore our donors here, or visit our Support Us webpage to explore ways to help our work.
