Appointment Professor David Wingfield is joining the UK Dementia Research Institute as an Affiliate Member

Professor David Wingfield, a Professor of Practice (Primary Care) in the School of Public Health at Imperial and the NIHR Imperial BRC Primary Care Research Lead, has joined the UK Dementia Research Institute as an Affiliate Member.

The NIHR Imperial BRC Primary Care Research Unit was designed to deliver the NIHR and UK Life Sciences strategic plans to increase primary care research capacity and delivery of academic and commercial research.

The UK DRI is a national distributed MRC institute with a mission to transform, through research, the lives of people affected by or at risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions. The UK DRI unites over 1,000 researchers hosted in leading UK universities with a breadth of research activity across discovery science through to the development of care technology. The Affiliate Members network comprises of respected research leaders in the field of neurodegeneration and supports the direction and delivery of the research programmes.

Professor David Wingfield is Head of R&D at Hammersmith and Fulham Partnership, which cares for 75,000 registered patients, and Co-Director of the NIHR Commercial Research Delivery Centre in Primary Care: North London. His research focuses on improving care for patients living with dementia and he is Principal Investigator of the Blood Biomarkers for Early and Accurate Diagnosis in Primary Care study (the BEAD-PC Study) and Primary Care lead for the UK DRI Care Research and Technology Centre.

David reflected on the appointment: “My intention is to develop my role within the UK DRI to expand and deepen the opportunity for primary care to test innovations at an early stage and to contribute practical clinical ideas to the discussions about the direction of clinical research. We see the problems our patients face in their daily lives and can bring perspective to the decisions for both prioritisation of research and deployment of resources”.

Professor Wingfield collaborates with GPs across North London, aiming to expand the research capabilities of primary care. His vision is to create opportunities for patients to participate in clinical trials closer to home, while also supporting GPs, nurses, and pharmacists in developing their research capabilities.