On 23 April 2026 we hosted our Annual Symposium at a new venue for us – the IET in London. Despite tube strikes creating some travel challenges, there was a buzz of anticipatory conversation as people registered and gathered in the Maxwell Library for morning refreshments overlooking the Thames.
Chief Executive Katy Saunders opened the event with some reflections about two of our six core values – collaboration and inclusion – and asked that delegates please adopt them for the day, and beyond.
Vivensa Academy Excellence Awards
Chair of Trustees, Professor Deborah Dunn-Walters, introduced the Vivensa Academy Excellence Awards. The awards recognise those who have demonstrated excellence and a meaningful commitment to our research principles. They are usually awarded to one early to mid-career ‘rising star’ and one senior leader in ageing-related research per year. However, this year we also introduced a new ‘team achievement’ category. Each winner is awarded £40k per year for three years (£120k in total per award). There was an extra rising star award this year too, as explained by Professor Dunn-Walters: “When it came to the final two candidates, it was impossible for the panel to choose between them so we just had to give them both an award!”
Last year’s senior leader, Professor Vicki Goodwin from the University of Exeter, sent a video outlining what the award meant to her and the brilliant initiatives she has put in place with her award – from funding community connectors in rural communities and launching conference awards to setting up ageing research cafes.
Last year’s rising star, Dr Toby Ellmers from Imperial College London, spoke about the two initiatives he launched in the past year – the Caregiving Support Award for Ageing Research and the Balance and Falls Research Award (see more details on our Apply for funding webpage). He also shared his learning in the form of practical tips for the new awardees. Toby noted the importance of good support and mentors with the phrase: “It takes a village to raise a researcher.”
This year’s awardees
The 2026 Senior Leader Award was presented to Professor Nathan Davies, Queen Mary, University of London. Nathan is currently teaching in India and Nepal, so collected his award earlier this month and sent an acceptance video in true Oscars style! Nathan is Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Training Centre for Integrated Dementia Care (I-Care-DTC), a £3.4 million centre that will train 29 PhD students to become future dementia research leaders.
The (first) 2026 Rising Star Award was awarded to Dr Claire McDonald. She talked about her career as a clinical academic – splitting her week between working for an NHS trust in Gateshead and the Age Research Group at Newcastle University’s NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. She talked about her work designing clinical trials for older people and the need for a translational geroscience ecosystem.
The second 2026 Rising Star Award was awarded to Dr Mahmoud Maina from the University of Sussex. His research spans two continents – he is Director of the Biomedical Science Research and Training Centre (BioRTC) at Yobe State University, Nigeria, and also has an active research programme at Sussex Neuroscience at the University of Sussex. Mahmoud is investigating how genetic ancestry influences Alzheimer’s disease mechanisms, to ensure that future therapies will be effective for diverse populations globally.
And last but not least, the 2026 Team Achievement Award was awarded to the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (MUARG). Professor Tine Buffel brings together researchers from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds to examine ageing in an urban environment. Joining Tine to accept the award was Niamh Kavanagh, an urban sociologist and researcher in the Department of Architecture at The University of Manchester. And Elaine Unegbu who is a member of MUARG’s Older People’s Forum and Chair of the Greater Manchester Older People’s Network and Age Friendly Manchester Older People’s Board.
We will be sharing full interviews with all the Excellence Award winners soon, so keep an eye on our website and socials.
Evidence into practice: Successful community research partnerships
The next session focused on recommendations for successful community research partnerships and featured panellists Pete Fleischmann of Co-Production Works; Bernadette Elder, Executive Director of Inspiring Housing Trust; Professor Jon Glasby, Director of IMPACT; and Charles Kwaku-Odoi, Chief Executive of the Caribbean & African Health Network.
Pete talked about the new report he authored: ‘Part of the glue’ examines how research funders can support more equitable partnerships between community organisations and academic researchers. You can read it here.
The same messages came through loud and clear from all the panellists: how to bridge the gap between research and practice; the need to think about whose voices are heard in key debates (and whose aren’t); and the importance of longevity in community partnerships. As one audience member so eloquently put it: “You need a marriage, not just dating.”
Another quote from Jon Glasby’s presentation really struck a chord: “Good support isn’t just about having ‘services’ – it’s about having a life.”
Happy, healthy ageing through hip-hop dance
After lunch and poster viewing, we gathered once more in the Turing Lecture Theatre. There was no fear of the usual post-lunch energy slump when the next speakers took to the stage. At the end of last year we invested in The Blair Academy through our social investment fund. Here, founder Charlie Blair was in conversation with our Chief Investment Officer, Andrew Gnaneswaran.
They talked about Charlie’s motivation behind starting her social enterprise that supports happy, healthy ageing through hip-hop; how the take-up was far greater than she anticipated in care homes; and how the company managed to survive the COVID-pandemic. We watched a video that demonstrated the importance of sessions like this – not only improving the physical and mental health of older people, but bringing joy to their lives. It was a truly inspiring session, and a good reminder that the social enterprise journey is rarely linear!
Charlie said she’d previously been quite naïve about social investment and what it meant, so was grateful for the “metaphorical hand-holding” throughout the process. She noted that the investment has “allowed me to flourish in a peaceful way.”
Live recording of Drs Confess podcast
Next up, and keeping the energy high was a live recording of the Drs Confess podcast – the first of 12 sponsored by the Vivensa Foundation. We welcomed Dr Helen Nuttall and Dr Kate Slade, both of Lancaster University, to the stage. In their trademark style of talking about research culture with honesty and plenty of humour, they discussed recollections of their first meeting when Kate was employed as a post-doctoral researcher on Helen’s BBSRC-funded New Investigator grant. The shoes! The sweaty palms! It was all in there.
They then welcomed Dr Sophia Amenyah of Northumbria University to join the discussion. She talked about what it’s like to be a first time Principal Investigator and about her time as a researcher in residence in an almshouse. Sophia comes from Ghana, so there were also some eye-opening observations about Visa issues. Her insights were invaluable, and as one audience member noted: “It’s great to see people who look like me doing such great things, Sophia.”
This episode of the podcast will be available soon on all good podcast platforms.
Research showcase
After a refreshment break and the inevitable conference cake, we heard from five of our inspiring award-holders and had a chance to ask questions:
- Janna van Dalen of Imperial College London spoke about lifespan-dependent epigenomic reprogramming in microglia modulates Alzheimer’s Disease.
- Hio Tong Pang, University of Aberdeen, presented her work on intergenerational communication. In particular, how we understand and support social interactions between younger and older adults.
- Aishah Baig, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, spoke about the implementation of vision screening in older adults who attend hospital following a fall.
- Dr Vignesh Radhakrishnan of Liverpool John Moores University presented his work on using body-worn sensors and computer vision to inform data-driven home modifications for falls prevention in older adults.
- Professor Afroditi Stathi, University of Birmingham, presented on the REACT (Retirement in ACTion) programme which targets older people with mobility limitations. She spoke about the journey from successful controlled trial to national roll-out.
Turn the volume up
In her closing remarks, Katy Saunders thanked all our brilliant speakers and award-holders and reminded everyone to “turn up the volume up” on collaboration and inclusivity.
The Symposium closed with a networking reception, where more thoughts and ideas were shared and future collaborations seeded.
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We had a brilliant photographer, Juliet from FilmFolk, taking photos throughout the day, and Jolie Goodman was live-illustrating throughout. We’ll share their work soon.