One in two of us in the UK will be directly affected by dementia in our lifetime, either by caring for someone with dementia, developing it ourselves, or both. But compared to other major health conditions, like cancer, effective treatments aren’t readily available, and there is very little support following a diagnosis. I’m Natalie, a Research Assistant at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, King’s College London, working on the DETERMIND study.

In my career as a researcher, I have heard the phrases “BPD patients are a hassle” and “don’t touch borderline with a bargepole”. They’re throwaway remarks, but they often are said from the mouths of people who I would otherwise describe as intelligent and deeply empathetic. As a researcher at King’s with roots in community mental health projects, documentary filmmaking and getting almost to the end of a sudoku then realising I’ve made a mistake a long time ago, I’m used to

In 2019, my father was given a mixed diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. I didn’t know much about the illness, despite three of my four grandparents also having had it. Stepping in to be the main caregiver has taken me on a seven-year journey of discovery. Whilst sad, it’s been a transformational experience. Each day, I’ve been exposed to how the mind we take for granted interacts with a body we also often take for granted.

“My name is Robyn, and I am a nurse.”The first time I said those words as I walked through the door of my first job, after qualifying in December 2023, they felt strange. I remember thinking, I’m not a real nurse. I’m just a student Apparently that part was over. I had the qualification, the responsibility, and the title. But that isn’t what I’m here to talk about today. I want to talk about the journey of being a student nurse.

Two Kashmirs live on the same valley’s soil: one in its streets, the other in the memory of those who fled. Indian-administered Kashmir valley, once remembered for its breathtaking location, physical beauty and distinct culture, is now more often defined by politics, borders and history, while far less focus is given to the mental state of Kashmiris. The land of mystical poets, now entangled in geopolitical debates, highlights how geography shapes mental states differently ac

Our minds are built to react quickly and loudly to signs of danger, even when the real solution lies in addressing the underlying cause rather than the noise it creates. We panic at the symptoms and overlook the structure that produced them. And this is exactly where we find ourselves in the UK today. Crime and personal safety feel like growing concerns, yet the policies shaping our justice system are moving in the opposite direction of what communities may actually need.

With misinformation spreading through the rise of fake news and pseudoscience, the public is often left confused about science and research. This makes it even more important for scientists to share their work with the public in an accessible way, so we can learn directly from the source. Now, when I refer to scientists, this should also include future scientists or those studying the sciences. And it starts early. As students, we are constantly writing reports and essays.

Research increasingly shows that our mental and physical health are intertwined, influencing each other in complex and often surprising ways. One such example is the relationship between chronic illnesses and mental health disorders, where conditions like metabolic disease and depression can shape and reinforce one another over time. This connection becomes particularly evident when examining specific conditions in which mental and physical health interact in measurable and i

Back in 2023, we published a scientific article, along with a blog version, showing that the body’s immune response is linked to adolescent depression, and that these biological signals look different in boys and girls. We ended by asking whether bringing together what we know about adolescents’ backgrounds and their biology could help us identify who is at risk of developing depression. And here we are today, trying to answer that very question.