The 2022 UCL-ICM Early-Career Researcher Seminar on Frontotemporal Dementia

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a group of neurodegenerative disorders which are rare, but constitute the second more prevalent cause of developing young onset dementia, after Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). In the last 20 years, a huge surge of neurodegenerative research has led to some ground-breaking discoveries in our understanding of why and how these diseases occur. The UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and the Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris have been at the forefront of this research from the very start, particularly with patient-focused research directly relevant to families. These diseases remain entirely incurable, so much progress is still needed, with the most rewarding outcome being finding a therapeutic treatment for each disorder.

FTD is less common than other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease; for example, researchers in the FTD field attend non-FTD specialist conferences to present and exchange progress on their work. This project addresses this gap and organises an Early Career Researcher FTD Seminar. This event would involve UCL FTD early-career researchers (mostly masters students, PhD students and first-year post-docs) to join their French peers at ICM for a day. The aim of this event would be to help the students develop their presenting skills, experience an international “exchange” and allow important networking for early career researchers that they have recently missed out on.

Area

Dementia

UCL leads

• Professor Jonathan Rohrer, UCL Dementia Research Centre