Rachel is a Consultant Admiral Nurse for Lewy Body dementia; funded by the Lewy Body Society. She has worked as a nurse for over 35 years across a range of settings and first specialised in dementia as an Admiral Nurse in 1999. She was RCN national lead for dementia between 2010- 2014 and practice development lead for Dementia UK in 2014-2019. Rachel is the co-chair of the British Geriatric Society Dementia Special Interest Group and contributes to national steering groups.

She has been involved in delivering education & training, practice development and has published a number of articles on education and best practice in dementia. She also co-authored a book; Pulsford & Thompson (2019) ‘Dementia; Support for Family & Friends’ (second edition).

Angela Penny has worked as a Speech & Language Therapist across a range of settings for nearly 30 years in England, Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand, and undertaken volunteer work in Cambodia. She holds a Masters in Clinical Education from the University of Leeds, has a keen interest in practice placement education and promoting CPD opportunities for all, and helps to organise the national SLT Practice Education CEN. In 2022 she took on a new role as an Advanced SLT in Progressive and Complex Neurology to further develop her interest and expertise in this area.

Allison is a Research Associate and clinical-academic community nurse at the University of Cambridge. Her PhD exploring living and dying with Lewy body dementia was supported and funded by the Lewy Body Society and a Florence Nightingale Research Scholarship. Her previous research experience includes working as a study co-ordinator across East Anglia for a NIHR funded project ‘DIAMOND- Lewy’, which aimed to improve the diagnosis and management of Lewy body dementia (Parkinson’s disease dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies). During this time, she was awarded a CLAHRC, East of England fellowship in which she explored the physical symptoms associated with Lewy body dementia.

Alison is a Research Associate in Dementia at Newcastle University. Her work focuses on psychosocial interventions for people with dementia and family caregivers, and raising awareness about dementia, diagnosis seeking and research participation in underserved communities. She is also a HCPC registered Health Psychologist and works in a diagnostic and treatment clinic for people with Lewy body dementia.