Two researchers from the Centre for Aging and Dementia Research (CADR) have been selected for the prestigious Welsh Crucible leadership development programme.

The award-winning Welsh Crucible is for Welsh researchers beginning to demonstrate excellence in their fields.

CADR’s Dr Emma Richards and Dr Ian Davies-Abbott are among the 30 researchers selected from across Wales for this year’s cohort. They will come together for a series of workshops exploring how collaboration can help tackle the research challenges Wales is facing and enhance the impact of their own studies.

Dr Emma Richards is a senior research officer exploring the biological factors and changes in the brain over various stages of vascular dementia and how this impacts on life with the condition. She is also exploring hearing loss as a risk factor for developing dementia.

Dr Ian Davies-Abbott is a co-lead on the Environments of Ageing work package for CADR, looking at the physical and social environments around us as we age.

Dr Emma Rees, Associate Professor of Healthcare Science at Swansea University and a member of the Health and Care Research Wales Faculty, has also been selected for this year’s Welsh Crucible programme. She is researching the impact of nurses adding a focused scan of the heart and lungs during their home visits to older people in the Neath Port Talbot area.

Dr Rees, Dr Richards and Dr Davies-Abbott will also benefit from the support and connections offered through the Welsh Crucible alumni network.

The Welsh Crucible programme is funded by a consortium of Welsh universities, in partnership with the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.