Meet the Changemakers: Selina Wray

To mark World Alzheimer’s Month, we’re relaunching our powerful Change The Ending campaign. This film highlights the devastating impact of dementia and explains why Alzheimer’s Research UK is working tirelessly to end it.

From funding research to raising awareness and campaigning, we’re doing everything we can to find a cure. But none of this would be possible without the inspiring people who support us.

So we wanted to shine a spotlight on their efforts and learn more about what they are doing to change the lives of people affected by dementia.

Tell us a little about yourself

My name is Selina Wray and I am an Alzheimer’s Research UK Ambassador and Professor of Molecular Neuroscience at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. In simple terms, I am a neuroscientist who studies the diseases that cause dementia.

Speaking to the public about dementia is another passion of mine, particularly encouraging children from all backgrounds to take an interest in science. In my spare time I enjoy running and this year I even completed my first ultra marathon to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Why is dementia research a cause that is so close to your heart?

In my work I have met many people who are directly affected by dementia. This includes people living with the condition, but also their family and friends. It is clear that it has a huge impact on everyone, not just the person themselves, but also on the lives of everyone around them.

It means a lot to be able to help these people through my own research, but also by being an ambassador for Alzheimer’s Research UK, an organisation leading the search for a cure.

How are you helping Alzheimer’s Research UK change the ending?

In my lab, we are interested in how dementia manifests itself in the early stages of the disease. The earlier we can detect these changes in the brain, the more likely we are to develop treatments that stop dementia before symptoms even appear.

Typically, this is done by analyzing brain tissue from people who have died of dementia. So it’s hard to get a sense of what happened in the early stages. But with stem cell technology, we can use skin samples from people with rare genetic forms of dementia. That means we can turn those cells into nerve cells in the lab, which have the same genetic information. From there, we can start to ask, “What are these early changes that happen in brain cells?”

Everyone has their own unique experience of dementia. One of the things we work on in the lab that I find really fascinating is how the complexity of what’s happening in the brain of someone with one form of dementia can be different from someone else’s. So understanding these differences will be critical to developing new treatments that work for everyone in the future.

What would you say to someone who wants to support but doesn’t know where to start?

I would firstly say that there are many ways to support a cause, even if they are small. I love running and Alzheimer’s Research UK organises some great fundraising runs to take part in. There are even opportunities to get involved in dementia research.

One of the biggest news stories of the last year is that we have the first therapies that have shown that we are able to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

This is a phenomenal milestone in research. And we wouldn’t be here without the people who volunteer to participate in research and clinical trials.

By supporting research, you will be part of a group that is trying to change the fate of people with dementia and their loved ones.

What’s next for you?

Working with Alzheimer’s Research UK over the last 15 years has been a wonderful experience and I am delighted to continue this journey as an ambassador. It means I can contribute to the work they do to raise awareness about dementia. They do a fantastic job of being a trusted source of information, whether it’s about diagnosis, new treatments or what we know about the underlying causes of the conditions that cause dementia.

I’m also really excited about the work that we’re doing and that others are doing to change the end of humanity by understanding better what’s happening in the brain. And building on the fantastic progress we’ve seen in dementia research.

Ultimately, we will get to a point where we have a combination of therapies for people, as we see for other diseases. And depending on the type of dementia, we will choose the treatments that are likely to be most effective. That is what I hope to see happen in the future.

Get involved

Feeling inspired? There are so many things you can do to help us find a cure.

Find out how you can get involved here.