6th September 2024
Speakers
Prof. Charles Scerri
Professor of Dementia Studies, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, University of Malta
Prof. Charles Scerri is a graduate from the University of Dundee in Scotland and lectures neuropharmacology and dementia studies at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta. He is the Chairperson of the Malta Dementia Society and Vice-Chairperson of Alzheimer Europe. He is also a member of the EU Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Diseases Scientific Advisory Board and Early Detection and Timely Intervention in Dementia Group (INTERDEM). Amongst his publications is the first National Strategy for Dementia in the Maltese Islands (2015-2023). He has also contributed to over 50 publications in peer-reviewed international journals together with several book chapters and policy reports focusing on different aspects of dementia.
Dr. Anthony Scerri
Senior Lecturer, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta
Dr. Anthony Scerri is a senior lecturer at the Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Malta. He has a background in gerontology, rehabilitation and management and has a doctorate degree in gerontology. He also worked for some time as a charge nurse in a rehabilitation ward. For the thirteen years, Anthony has been teaching rehabilitation care and nursing care of older persons to nursing students who follow the degree in nursing programme. Dr Scerri completed a Doctorate Degree in Gerontology in 2017 after successfully defending his thesis related to dementia care in hospital settings. Anthony is the Vice-Chair of the Malta Dementia Society, a member of INTERDEM (a pan-European network of researchers collaborating in research on and dissemination of Early, Timely and Quality Psychosocial Interventions in Dementia) and of the Alzheimer Europe Expert Advisory Panel. Anthony has written peer reviewed papers and book chapters on the psychosocial aspects of dementia care and education with a focus on hospital care, technology, rehabilitation, and gender issues.
Prof. Jaqueline Parkes
Founder and co-lead Northamptonshire Dementia Research and Innovation centre, the University of Northampton, Director of the Academy of Dementia Research and Education (ADRE)
Prof. Jacqueline Parkes is the Professor of Applied Mental Health in the Faculty of Health, Education & Society at the University of Northampton. Jackie is an experienced mental health nurse and has worked in a broad range of mental health and learning disability settings prior to moving into Higher Education. Her subject specialism is on developing and implementing person-centred care pathways, including community-based interventions for people living with dementia. She is the Chair of the Northamptonshire Dementia Action Forum and Chair of the Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland Dementia Friendly Community. Jackie has also established four community-based social groups for people with dementia and carers; the Forget-me-nots Social YOD Group, the Post-diagnostic Support UnityDEM Centre in Northamptonshire, the Lutterworth Share & Care Group and ADRE Ltd. She is currently the Deputy Chair of Research at Young Dementia Network, and a member of the pan European Group InterDEM.
Dr. Marco Blom
Scientific Director, Alzheimer Netherlands
Dr Marco Blom is scientific director of Alzheimer Nederland. He is a psychogerontologist and started working at Alzheimer Nederland in 1997. He has been involved in the development of the Alzheimer Cafes, the academic Alzheimer Research Centres, and the online platform (www.dementie.nl) for people with dementia and their family caregivers. He has been a board member of Alzheimer Europe since 2018. In 2021 he was appointed by Health Holland as chair of the mission team on dementia for the Life Sciences and Health section. Since 2024 he is co-leading the DEMPACT-consortium aimed at the implementation of scientific knowledge and research output into practice to improve the societal impact of the National Dementia Programme in the Netherlands.
Mr. Jean Georges
Executive Director, Alzheimer Europe
Mr Jean Georges is the Executive Director of Alzheimer Europe, a position he has held since November 1996. Mr Georges’ role at Alzheimer Europe includes providing support for the Board, liaising with members or other European umbrella organisations, as well as managing of personnel, financial matters and overall project management of the various projects run by the organisation. Mr Georges has co-authored and contributed to several academic papers within the field of dementia and Alzheimer’s. He has been an invited speaker on dementia policy and research at International, European, and national conferences. He has served as the Principal Investigator for Alzheimer Europe in projects supported by IMI (Innovative Medicines Initiative) and the European Union’s Research and Innovation Funding Programmes: FP7 and Horizon2020. Prior to joining Alzheimer Europe, he served as a Parliamentary Assistant for members of the Luxembourg and European Parliaments and worked as a journalist in the European and International department of the Luxembourg newspaper “Tageblatt”. Mr Georges earned his bachelor’s degree in English and European literature in 1986 from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Alex Gobey
Director, Dementia Care Directorate
Mr Alex Gobey is the Director of the Dementia Care Directorate within Active Ageing and Community Care and coordinates specialised services in community-based and residential settings in Malta. The services include post-diagnostic multidisciplinary services such as the Dementia Intervention Team and the running of Dementia Activity Centres located in the community. He is a registered Speech-language Pathologist and has previously worked at the Rehabilitation Hospital Karin Grech with extensive experience in the rehabilitation of communication and swallowing disorders. He is a lecturer at the University of Malta, teaching credits within the Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies. Alex recently chaired the Dementia Strategy Advisory Group which was instrumental in the creation of Malta’s second National Dementia Strategy entitled ‘Reaching New Heights’ for 2024-2031.
Dr. Alexia Mercieca
Architect, Lecturer in Architectural Design, Environments for Mental Health and Dementia
Dr Alexia Mercieca is an architect by profession and holds a Masters in Advanced Architectural Design and PhD in Architecture from the University of Edinburgh. Her PhD research focuses on the impact of dementia care environments and their immediate outdoor settings on the perceived daily life experiences of people with dementia. This research led to the establishment of a novel methodology in assessing the wellbeing of residents with dementia developed from care environment fieldwork across three continents.
Alexia is a lecturer and researcher at the Department of Architecture and Urban Design, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta. Her lecturing portfolio includes architectural design, contemporary research and realities in architecture, a relatively new strand in European and local architectural education with focuses on enabling and universally accessible environments, particularly targeting children, persons with a disability, persons with mental health problems, older persons and persons with dementia. She has lectured, presented at conferences and sat on design review panels both locally and overseas.
Alexia is also a co-founder at Local Office for Architecture, a research-led design practice that aspires to create environments that are equitable, enable individual growth and support collective wellbeing, through user-participation and collaboration.
Prof. Christian Borg Xuereb
Head, Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta
Prof. Christian Borg Xuereb is the Head of Department and resident associate professor in health and geropsychology at the Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies, University of Malta. He coordinates the Master of Arts in Ageing and Dementia Studies within the same department. He is also a registered Health, Academic and Research Psychologist with the Malta Psychology Professions Board, with a special interest in Health and Geropsychology. He was also nominated on the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations Geropsychology Subcommittee. He is also the National Delegate for Malta on the European Health Psychology Society and a council member on the Maltese Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics.