Dementias 2026 Programme

Dementias 2026 is a two-day conference highlighting the key challenges, advances and best practice in the world of dementia care. 

Curated by conference chairs John O'Brien and Alistair Burns, the Dementias 2026 programme promises specialist-led talks on:

Day 1 - Wednesday 25th February

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Registration and refreshments
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Welcome and introduction
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Legal and ethical issues associated with assisted dying

Annabel Price, Consultant, Liaison and Psychiatrist, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

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Dementia prevention

Naheed Mukadam, Professor of Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatry, University College London

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Updates in genetic testing

Timothy Rittman, Assistant Professor, University of Cambridge

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Break - refreshments and exhibition viewing
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Uncommon dementias

Matthew Jones, Consultant Neurologist, Salford Royal

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Sponsored Symposium

Sponsored by: Eli Lilly

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Blood biomarkers for diagnosing dementia

Vanessa Raymont, Associate Professor, University of Oxford

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Lunch and poster presentations
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Music therapy and other non-pharmacological approaches

Ming Hung Hsu, Senior Research Fellow, The Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research (CIMTR), Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University

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Supporting families affected by dementia

Hilda Hayo, Chief Admiral Nurse and CEO, Dementia UK

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Sponsored Symposium

TBC

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Case studies

Chaired by Ross Dunne, Consultant & Later life psychiatrist Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (GMMH)

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Break
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The future of dementia care

Jeremy Isaacs, National Clinical Director for Dementia and Older People's Mental Health, NHS England

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Sponsored Symposium

TBC

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Primary care and dementia

Professor Dame Louise Robinson, Regus Professor of Ageing, Newcastle University

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Summary and close of day 1
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Networking Reception

Day 2 - Thursday 26th February

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Registration and refreshments
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Vascular disease and Dementia

Joanna Wardlaw, Professor of Applied Neuroimaging, University of Edinburgh and UK DRI

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New criteria for diagnosis and staging of Alzheimer's disease

Dennis Chan, Principal Research Fellow, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London

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The Use of AI in Dementia

David Llewellyn, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Digital Health, University of Exeter

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Alcohol and the Brain

 Anya Topiwala, Senior Clinical Researcher, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford

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Break
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End of Life Care

Catherine Evans, Professor of Palliative Care, Director of the Cicely Saunders Institute, King's College London

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Assessing Capacity

- A Legal Perspective
Alex Ruck Keene, Barrister, Professor of Practice, 39 Essex Chambers & King's College London

- A Clinical Perspective
 James Warner, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University College London

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Lunch and poster presentations
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Lewy body dementia

Judith Harrison, NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer in Old Age Psychiatry, Newcastle University

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Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia

Ben Underwood, Assistant Professor in Applied and Translational Old Age Psychiatry & Honorary Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist, University of Cambridge

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Emerging therapies in Alzheimer's disease

Professor Catherine Mummery, Professor of Neurology; Director NIHR UK Dementia Trials Network; Head of Clinical Trials, Dementia Research Centre

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Poster presentations results and prize giving
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Closing comments and end of conference