Ask Your Mentor - Dr Ian Harrison

Ask Your Mentor Podcast, from Dementia Researcher, in association with Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK). Mentees interviewing their mentors, talking careers, lessons learned and what they’ve discovered, that could help you forge a successful career in dementia research. In this podcast we welcome back Dr Josie Fullerton from University of Glasgow, this time as a mentee, proving that even mentors need mentors. Josie chats with Dr Ian Harrison, Senior Research Fellow from University College London. Josie works on understanding the role of extracellular vesicles in stroke and hypertension. She is particularly passionate about the progression of Early Career Researchers, helping others to achieve their full potential and horse riding! Ian looks at the function of the glymphatic system in the brain, responsible for the clearance of protein solutes from the brain parenchyma. His lab is investigating the role of this system in neurodegenerative disease, to see if it is responsible for the accumulation of misfolded protein in disease like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and test whether we can alter its function as a therapy in these disorders. Full biographies on all our guests and a transcript can be found on our website ⁠https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk⁠ Find our more about Alzheimer's Research UK and how they support early career researchers on their website: ⁠https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/research/for-researchers/ecr/supporting-your-career/⁠ Like what you hear? Please review, like, and share our podcast - and don't forget to subscribe to ensure you never miss an episode – and if you prefer to watch rather than watch, you’ll find a video version of this podcast on spotify and on twitter at https://youtu.be/2Qwk-DGl5ZU This podcast is brought to you by University College London / UCLH NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in association with Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, Alzheimer's Society and Race Against Dementia who we thank for their ongoing support.

00:00 Introduction 01:43 Walk through Ian's Career 07:50 Cake Club 08:56 Doing a Masters 11:09 Taking the Viva 12:16 Dealing with rejection 13:31 Short-term contracts and job security 16:00 Pressure to change institutions 17:19 Applying for Fellowships 24:39 Building a new lab team 26:39 Ian's research and the glymphatic system 29:38 Managing the lab work 31:42 Worklife balance 34:58 Career Top Tips 41:01 Mentoring 45:31 Round-up and goodbyes