Skip to main content
Navigate back to homepage
Open search bar.
Open main navigation menu

Main navigation

  • Study
    UCL Portico statue
    Study at UCL

    Being a student at UCL is about so much more than just acquiring knowledge. Studying here gives you the opportunity to realise your potential as an individual, and the skills and tools to thrive.

    • Undergraduate courses
    • Graduate courses
    • Short courses
    • Study abroad
    • Centre for Languages & International Education
  • Research
    Tree-of-Life-MehmetDavrandi-UCL-EastmanDentalInstitute-042_2017-18-800x500-withborder (1)
    Research at UCL

    Find out more about what makes UCL research world-leading, how to access UCL expertise, and teams in the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation and Global Engagement).

    • Engage with us
    • Explore our Research
    • Initiatives and networks
    • Research news
  • Engage
    UCL Print room
    Engage with UCL

    Discover the many ways you can connect with UCL, and how we work with industry, government and not-for-profit organisations to tackle tough challenges.

    • Alumni
    • Business partnerships and collaboration
    • Global engagement
    • News and Media relations
    • Public Policy
    • Schools and priority groups
    • Visit us
  • About
    UCL welcome quad
    About UCL

    Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 16,000 staff and 50,000 students from 150 different countries.

    • Who we are
    • Faculties
    • Governance
    • President and Provost
    • Strategy
  • Active parent page: Brain Sciences
    • Study
    • Research
    • About the Faculty
    • Institutes and Divisions
    • Active parent page: News and Events
    • Contact

Dr Chris Hardy named as Alzheimer’s Society Carol Jennings Fellow

Dr Chris Hardy (Dementia Research Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) has been announced as Alzheimer’s Society’s second Carol Jennings Fellow.

2 January 2025

Breadcrumb trail

  • Brain Sciences
  • News and Events

Faculty menu

  • Current page: Faculty news
  • Events

The fellowship honours the legacy of former honorary Vice-President of the Alzheimer’s Society, Carol Jennings, who together with her husband Stuart was a passionate global advocate for dementia research, raising awareness and championing progress.

Dr Hardy said: “It’s extremely humbling and motivating to know that the work I’m doing is only possible because of the incredible donations and support that people have given to the Alzheimer’s Society, and I want to repay the faith that people have put in me by funding my research. I plan to do that by working incredibly hard over the next four years to deliver on what I hope to achieve.
“I’m so lucky to be able to go into work each morning to do a job that I love, and what drives me is the hope that my research might help people, now and in the future.”

Carol Jennings’ connection to Alzheimer’s disease began in 1983 when her father was diagnosed with the disease. Within a few years, four of his siblings also received a dementia diagnosis.

Determined to find answers to her family’s fate with dementia, Carol got in touch with Professor Sir John Hardy (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) as part of his landmark study into the role of amyloid in Alzheimer’s disease.

Sadly, after years of advocacy, Carol was also later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and passed away earlier this year.

Dr Chris Hardy joins Dr Johanna Jackson (Imperial College London) who was made the first Carol Jennings Fellow in 2023/24.

With Alzheimer’s Society funding, Dr Hardy plans to investigate how ear and brain-related hearing loss corresponds to brain changes in people with or at risk of dementia.

He will also develop new, culture-and-language-fair tests of brain hearing (the way that the brain naturally processes sound) to help detect, diagnose and track dementia in diverse groups.

Dr Hardy said: “One promising way of identifying dementia early, cheaply, quickly, and easily is by using tests of ‘brain hearing’. Hearing loss is a major dementia risk factor, we hear with our brain as well as our ears, and brain regions that perform difficult hearing tasks are affected very early in Alzheimer’s disease.”
He added: “I feel very fortunate that my research allows me to work directly with people living with and affected by dementia – it’s an immense privilege to meet the people who are the real-life experts of living with the conditions and to learn from their experiences.”

Links

  • Dr Chris Hardy's academic profile
  • UCL Dementia Research Centre
  • Alzheimer's Society

Image

  • Dr Chris Hardy

UCL footer

Visit

  • Bloomsbury Theatre and Studio
  • Library, Museums and Collections
  • UCL Maps
  • UCL Shop
  • Contact UCL

Students

  • Accommodation
  • Current Students
  • Moodle
  • Students' Union

Staff

  • Inside UCL
  • Staff Intranet
  • Work at UCL
  • Human Resources

UCL social media menu

  • Link to Soundcloud
  • Link to Flickr
  • Link to TikTok
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Twitter

University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7679 2000

© 2025 UCL

Essential

  • Disclaimer
  • Freedom of Information
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • Slavery statement
  • Log in