Speakers

Keynote Speakers
[In alphabetical order of family name]

Professor Emeritus Dawn Brooker PhD MBE (UK) is internationally recognised for scholarship in practice development of person-centred dementia care and has long established working relationships with practitioners and scholars worldwide. Originally qualified as a clinical psychologist, Professor Brooker has many years’ hands on experience in health and social care. She was the founding Director of the Association for Dementia Studies at University of Worcester. Dawn is passionate about writing books and developing resources that reflect the complexity of dementia care but that make these accessible for the widest possible audience. Whilst at Worcester she developed the Care fit for VIPS free website https://carefitforvips.co.uk/ based on her 2016 book on Person Centred Dementia Care. In 2019, she edited an updated edition of Tom Kitwood’s seminal work on person-centred dementia care. Together with Dr Keith Oliver, Professor Brooker is the Reconsidering Dementia Book Series editor for Open University Press. She was made an MBE for services to those affected by dementia in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours in 2021.

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Professor Lesley Palmer is an architect with 24 years of professional practice and a Professor of Ageing and Dementia Design at the University of Stirling. Palmer field of interest is in environmental design for dementia and ageing. Palmer works globally, supporting people to design products, services and environments to support healthier cognitive ageing.

Palmer is a co-founder of Iridis, a university spin-out company with an emphasis on developing technologies and innovations in the built environment to support healthy ageing.

Palmer is also the founding director of INCH Architecture and Design, an award-winning non-profit architecture practice based in Glasgow, working to break-down economic inequalities in accessing architecture. 

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Professor Anne Margriet Pot is an endowed professor at the Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management in Rotterdam and a strategic advisor for Long-Term Care at the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate in the Netherlands. She also holds the position of extraordinary professor at Optentia, North-West University in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is the President-elect of the International Psychogeriatric Association.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Anne has dedicated herself to enhancing the quality of long-term care, particularly for older individuals. Her extensive research, published in peer-reviewed journals, focuses on measuring and monitoring the quality of care and quality of life for older adults and their caregivers. She is known for developing innovative interventions that leverage technology to improve mental health and well-being.During her time at the World Health Organization from 2014 to 2018, Anne contributed to global discussions on long-term care policy, expanding her impact on an international scale. Currently, at ESHPM, she is leading a research program centered on regulation in person-centered and integrated long-term care, emphasizing narrative methods.Anne’s collaboration with the Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing (JCCPA) began in 2014 when she shared  her expertise in dementia care and BPSD management in a seminar organised by JCCPA in Hong Kong. Her unwavering commitment to advancing long-term care practices and her influential contributions to the field continue to drive positive change and innovation worldwide.

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Dr Andrew Sommerlad is an Associate Professor at Division of Psychiatry, University College London and a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist, supported by a Wellcome Trust fellowship. He is a member of the Lancet Standing Commission for Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care which has produced key evidence on the potential for prevention of dementia through modification of lifestyle factors and summarised evidence on effective interventions and care for those who have dementia. This evidence has been incorporated into national guidelines, and cited as one of the key breakthroughs in dementia research by Alzheimer’s Research UK. His research also aims to understand the nature, causes and consequences of social functioning impairment in people with dementia and approaches to improve social functioning for people with the earliest stages of dementia, to those with severe dementia in care homes. He will present evidence from the 2024 Lancet Commission report on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care. Dr Sommerlad’s presentation will be pre-recorded for the event.

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Professor Huali Wang’s connection with Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing (JCCPA) began in 2006 during her attachment at the centre, where she gained valuable insights and inspiration for developing dementia services in mainland China. Notably, she established China’s first dementia caregiver support group in 2000 and currently leads training programs for community doctors, service providers, and dementia caregivers in China. Her impactful contributions are reflected in five published books on dementia care, including “Smart Caregivers” and “China Memory Clinic Guideline.”

Professor Wang’s innovative care model has garnered international recognition, with the World Health Organization’s West Pacific Regional Office adopting elements for a toolkit on community-based dementia care in low- and middle-income countries. She also spearheads the National Platform on Clinical Dataset and Biobank of Major Mental Disorders and conducts groundbreaking research on Alzheimer’s Disease biomarkers, revealing insights into the ApoE4 allele’s impact on brain connectivity.

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