Email: a.l.robinson@ncl.ac.uk

Research profile and key clinical specialties

Professor Robinson leads the Primary Care Group of the Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network (DeNDRoN), a national network of researchers. She is also a member of the University’s Ageing Health and Society Research Group.

The purpose of that group involves a wide range of individuals looking at the impact of our rapidly ageing society, not just on individual health but on the community and society.

Within the group she has people looking at how ageing affects population levels. There are others looking at predictors of disability and what the numbers of people with dementia are going to be in the future. Dementia care currently costs the UK £21 billion a year, and that doesn’t include the huge informal costs of family carers and community support networks.

In her position as a GP, Professor Robinson has played a big role in the Newcastle 85+ Study. This has been investigating what is the fastest growing sector of the population, and involved more than 70% of Newcastle and North Tyneside GP practices in helping to recruit over 1,000 people from that age group for the project.

She is also involved in the second stage of the Medical Research Council’s national Cognitive Function and Ageing Study. This again has used GPs to recruit people aged over 65 for research into how well they are ageing, as well as looking at such things as the costs of care and disability levels.

Two key publications

• Harrison SL, Ding J, Tang EYH, Siervo M, Robinson L, Jagger C, Stephan BC. Cardiovascular Disease Risk Models and Longitudinal Changes in Cognition: A Systematic Review. PLoS ONE 2014; 9(12). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114431.
• Matthews FE, Arthur A, Barnes LE, Bond J, Jagger C, Robinson L, Brayne C. A two-decade comparison of prevalence of dementia in individuals aged 65 years and older from three geographical areas of England: results of the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study I and II. The Lancet 2013;382(9902): 1405-1412. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61570-6.

Possible PhD projects

• An investigation into patterns of loneliness in the over 65 years old and its effects on mortality using the UK MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing cohorts.

More information

Led the successful application for the MRC DTP award in 2015 and is now director of the DTP.

Keywords: Dementia, Neurodegenerative, ageing, disability, loneliness, mortality, cognitive, function, Louise Robinson, Newcastle

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