We are hoping to organise the next edition of the course for early 2024. Please keep an eye on this webpage for the latest information and how to register.

Course overview

The aim of the advanced course on dementia prevention is to provide training on the methods and recent advances in population based epidemiological research on dementia. With ageing of the populations and increasing numbers of people living with dementia worldwide, there is growing interest in the academic and pharmaceutical industry sectors, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations, in dementia research and prevention. The skills acquired by this course are highly relevant to employment in any such organizations where there is interest in research, consultancy, or policy setting related to ageing and dementia.

During the course an introduction to dementia pathophysiology and advances in diagnosis and management of the condition will be provided followed by extensive discussions on the research methods and up to date findings on the epidemiology, and lifestyle, biological, genomic and metabolomic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Discussions will follow on recent advances in research on pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent and treat dementia. The two weeks course includes two days of training in basic epidemiological concepts and biostatistics for attendees who do not have prior formal training in epidemiology/biostatistics.

Each day of the course is typically comprised of 3 to 4 lectures of 45 minutes to 1-hour duration by renowned experts in the field and at least one 2-hour interactive/practical training session. Students will be provided with reading material in advance through the Imperial College online secure platform (Blackboard) to prepare for the interactive/practical sessions. The interactive/practical sessions are designed to consolidate acquired knowledge, provide a forum to practice taught material, develop practical skills in applying the taught elements, to monitor student progress, provide and receive feedback on learning, course content and implementation.

Upon completion of the two week course you will be expected to gain a broad understanding of the biology and pathophysiology of dementia, to understand research methods applied to population based dementia research and critically appraise epidemiological research papers on the topic, gain an understanding of advances and challenges in epidemiological dementia research, to be able to identify gaps in dementia research and design a population based epidemiological or intervention study to answer a research question on the topic of dementia prevention and interpret the findings. A minimum of 80% attendance is required to receive certificate of attendance in the course.