Events

Cognitive Frailty Interdisciplinary Network Webinar:

An introduction to knowledge mobilisation planning and engagement opportunities for researchers

Date: 10 April (Thursday) 2025, 9:30-11:30 am BSTon MS Teams

 CFIN is organising a webinar exploring number of knowledge mobilisation frameworks for researches to consider when planning outcomes and impact within their studies. The webinar will also showcase the recent policy engagement by CFIN as an example and introduce the health inequalities impact assessment toolkit (hiat) which helps researchers to take account of health inequalities in planning their research.

Speakers

• Chair: Carol Holland, CFIN Network PI and Professor in Ageing, Lancaster University
• Professor Sally Fowler Davis – Director of Health and Care Research centre Anglia Ruskin University
• Dr Katerina Panagaki – Lead for Health Equity Mainstreaming, NIHR ARC NWC & Lancaster University

In preparation for the webinar, please considers ways to connect with the NHS or social care and how your research is potentially impactful in practice.

The webinar is free to attend for CFIN Members.

Register for the webinar here!

Registration deadline: 4th April (Friday), 12 pm (BST)

We will send the invitation to the Microsoft Teams meeting for the webinar after the registration deadline.

Not already a CFIN Member? You can join the network here.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Nikolett Dravecz, CFIN Network manager at n.dravecz2@lancaster.ac.uk.

 

CFIN Policy event – Living Well in Later Life: Tackling Cognitive Frailty to Prevent Dementia and Long-term Conditions

Date: 11th February 2025

On 11th February, the Cognitive Frailty Interdisciplinary Network hosted an event at London’s Wellcome Collection, bringing together policymakers, researchers, and healthcare leaders. The event explored interventions to prevent cognitive frailty, promote healthy ageing, and reduce social care costs. Experts shared key findings, followed by discussion groups on prevention strategies and population health interventions.

Key outcomes included the need for further research into fostering positive expectations of ageing and motivating older adults to adopt preventive lifestyle behaviors. Participants also highlighted the importance of community and policy-level interventions, such as creating accessible social spaces, promoting clean air policies, and increasing education and awareness to prevent physical frailty.

 

Cognitive Frailty Interdisciplinary Network Webinar: Working Alongside Older People in Research

Date: 1-3 pm on 22 November 2024

CFIN is pleased to invite you to a webinar exploring how to integrate Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) into your research, and also to involve lay older adults as co-researchers. As there is increasing emphasis on the inclusion of PPI and co-research in research, understanding effective strategies for recruiting lay people and integrating them at various stages of the research (from research design to implementation) is essential. Join the panel of experts to explore:

• The Importance of PPI in Research: why involving patients and the public enhances the relevance and quality of research, ensuring that studies address real-world needs and concerns.
• Best Practices for Recruiting PPI Contributors: how to effectively engage diverse communities and ensure inclusive participation.
• Collaborating with Lay People as Co-Researchers: how to empower lay individuals in the research process, allowing them to bring unique perspectives that can shape study design and implementation.
• Case Studies and Success Stories: Hear from researchers who have successfully integrated PPI and co-research into their projects, demonstrating the positive impact on research outcomes and community

Speakers

• Chair: Carol Holland, CFIN Network PI and Professor in Ageing, Lancaster University
• Dr Caroline Swarbrick, Senior Lecturer in Ageing, Lancaster University
• Lauren Chaffey, Engagement Co-ordinator at Voice
• Lay members who have been involved in research in different ways

 

 

CFIN Conference and Sandpit Event
24-25 June 2024

Abstract submission is now closed, but registration is still open.

The second Cognitive Frailty Interdisciplinary Network conference will be held at Lancaster University Health Innovation campus in June 2024. Join us to develop CFIN activities to increase understanding of cognitive frailty and interventions to target population health improvement across the lifespan.

The conference will be held in person at Lancaster University; however, some elements of the conference will be available online as well. The conference will consist of research presentations and a Sandpit activity on the second day with an emphasis on Earlier Career Researchers leading proposals for small project funding (“pump priming”), with more experienced mentors supporting.

The programme will feature:

Day 1 – Research presentations:

Researchers in diverse disciplines will present their approach and how their work contributes to our understanding of cognitive frailty, ranging from the underlying biological mechanisms through to the impact on cognitive function and how this knowledge can be translated to interventions and policy changes.

• The research talks will take place at the Health and Innovation One Lecture Theatre at Lancaster University, but we are planning to livestream the talks for online participants. We can also welcome online talks.

Presentation of the Delphi study: expert opinion on potential multisystem interventions.

Presentation of evidence synthesis on interactions of biological mechanisms and external factors that impact cognitive frailty.

 

Day 2 – Sandpit event:

Discussion groups for further research activities including grant proposal preparation.

Opportunities for ECRs to submit small proposals to support development of research proposals. Proposal submission deadline will be shortly after the conference (preliminary deadline 5^th July).

The Sandpit event will take place in person at the Innovation Lab at Health Innovation One at Lancaster University, but we are open to create online discussion groups if there is an interest, please indicate this when submitting your abstract.

You can view the preliminary programme here: CFIN Conference and sandpit event Preliminary schedule

 

 

Cognitive Frailty Interdisciplinary Network Webinar:
Multidisciplinary research on cognitive frailty

Date and time: 31 May (Friday) 2024, 2-4 pm
Location: MS Teams

CFIN is pleased to invite you to a webinar exploring multidisciplinary research in ageing and cognitive frailty.  Join our panel of experts as they discuss their different approaches to research on cognitive frailty and explore how key findings in diverse fields can be brought together to enable the translation and impact of the scientific understanding of ageing and cognitive frailty.

Speakers:
Chair: Prof. Carol Holland, CFIN Network PI and Professor in Ageing, Lancaster University
Dr Sue Broughton, Senior Lecturer in Biogerontology, Lancaster University
Prof. Alan Gow, Professor in Psychology, Heriot-Watt University
Prof. Sally Fowler Davis, Professor in Allied Health, Anglia Ruskin University

To make the most out of the webinar, we encourage you prepare for this session by creating a mind map of your existing contacts and academic network.  This will be used for reference in the meeting to a) identify transdisciplinary links that could be cultivated (possibly via CFIN) b) identify gaps in academic networks and ways of engaging more widely.

The webinar is free to attend for CFIN Members.

Registration deadline: 29 May (Wednesday), 12 pm

 

ECR Summer School 
Application CLOSED
Date: 21-22 June 2023

We are organising ECR summer school on Cognitive Frailty and Ageing

Who can take part?

The ECR Summer School is aimed for Early Career researchers interested in Cognitive Frailty and Ageing from a wide range of disciplines, who would like to learn about working in an interdisciplinary manner.

ECR includes PhD Students, Research associates and assistants, people within 3 years of their first independent research role such as fellows or lecturers.

To be eligible to take part in the summer school, you need to be a member of the CFIN Network. If you are not already a member, you can join the network here.

Date and location:

The summer school starts at 11 am BST on 21^st June and closes at 4 pm BST on 22^nd June 2023.

The summer school takes place at Lancaster University (Health Innovation One building). We have a limited amount of funding available to cover accommodation and travel expenses within the UK.

ECRs can also take part in the summer school online, we are planning to have session recordings for international participants at different time zones.

Available funding:

We can offer accommodation for the 21^st of June at the Lancaster Conference Centre, and we have funding available to cover travel expenses within the UK up to £130 for approximately 15 participants. We will ask for an estimated travel cost in the application form.

 

Delphi Study on Cognitive Frailty – Phase 2
CLOSED

The Delphi technique is a well-established approach to answering a research question through the identification of a consensus view across subject experts. It allows for reflection among participants, who are able to nuance and reconsider their opinion based on the anonymised opinions of others.

The first stage of the Delphi study to elicit expert opinion on potential multisystem interventions for Cognitive Frailty took place at the Network Development Conference in September. The second phase is going to take place through an online questionnaire opening in January 2023. You can take part in the second phase even if you did not take part in the first phase – we are still looking for experts of any aspect of Cognitive Frailty. Researchers, industry, public health, carers, and anyone experiencing these issues are welcome!

 

Interdisciplinary Mentoring – CLOSED
Application deadline for mentors and mentees: 28th February

The Cognitive Frailty Interdisciplinary Network is opening an Interdisciplinary mentoring programme. We are looking for mentors and mentees interested in ageing, cognition and physical function from a wide range of backgrounds.

Our mentoring programme is aiming to bring together:  Biogerontologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, social scientists, health services researchers, practitioners in health and care, industry partners, policy organisations, charities, and the voices of older people.

An interdisciplinary mentoring relationship can:

• provide an outside perspective on the research area of the mentor, and provide help to make the research more translatable
• help share experiences from a different background, putting ideas in a different perspective
• Facilitate decision making by suggesting alternative ideas based on the experience in  a different discipline
• Help to bridge the gap and facilitate communication between different disciplines
• Give insight from outside an area of expertise.
• Become familiar or adopt ideas and practices from a completely different field
• Enable understanding of the challenges of transferability between disciplines and developing methods to overcome them
• Develop skills to communicate across disciplines
• Build valuable connections from different disciplines

 

Cognitive Frailty Interdisciplinary Network Development Conference
(15-16 September 2022)

The CFIN network organised their first online international Network Development conference on 15-16 September with delegates from 5 countries and 32 institutions. Conference included presentations on the two scoping reviews, paper presentations and the following network development activities:

• What does interdisciplinary work mean, and are we doing it? (presentation and discussion from experts)
• Presentation on Interdisciplinary Mentoring, followed by a matchmaking session
• Delphi study: A consensus study on interventions for cognitive frailty – stage 1 (results/outcomes are being evaluated currently, we will run a 2^nd stage)
• Consortia development for developing proposals for pump priming (application deadline: 30^th October)

You can download the Conference abstract book here:

CFIN Conference Abstract book

 

Pump Priming for interdisciplinary projects
(application closed on 30th October 2023)

The Cognitive Frailty Interdisciplinary network awarded 5 proposals for pump priming. The funding criteria was: At least two disciplinary areas must be involved and we are recommending that some consultation with lay older adults or other non-research stakeholders is included. Time limit for projects: 10 months, max £5000 per project

Projects awarded:

• Cognitive frailty: A conceptual overview and risk factors
• A holistic approach to cognitive frailty in an older community-dwelling population in India: Evidence from a nationally representative survey
• Associations of lipophilic micronutrients with oxidised lipids in persons with mild cognitive impairment
• Distinguishing cognitive frailty from early dementia: the differential role of potential predictors
• A pilot study to explore the neurovascular status of older individuals with a preclinical gait speed decline.