Linda Clare

Biography

Linda Clare directs the Centre for Research in Ageing and Cognitive Health (REACH), which is a joint venture between the School of Psychology, the University of Exeter Medical School and PenCLAHRC. REACH is also linked with the University’s Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health and with the Centre of Research Excellence in Cognitive Health at the Australian National University.

Linda’s research aims to improve the lives of older people and people who are living with dementia or other age-related neurodegenerative conditions by promoting well-being, preventing or reducing age-related disability, and improving rehabilitation and care. She leads both large observational studies and intervention trials, and is particularly known for pioneering the application of cognitive rehabilitation approaches for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. She is chief investigator for the IDEAL cohort study of people with dementia and carers, and from January 2018 will lead the recently-announced Alzheimer’s Society Centre of Excellence related to this programme.

Linda completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Cambridge, trained as a clinical psychologist at University College London, and undertook further training in clinical neuropsychology. She gained her PhD while working at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. In 2004 she received the May Davidson award from the British Psychological Society for her contribution to the development of clinical psychology in the UK. Her ScD was awarded by the University of Cambridge in 2015 in recognition of her work on awareness in people with dementia.

Linda was a lecturer on the clinical psychology doctoral programme at University College London from 1999 to 2003. In 2004 she moved to Bangor University where she was awarded a personal chair in 2008. She joined the University of Exeter in 2015.

Linda has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and is an Editor for the Cochrane Collaboration’s dementia and cognitive improvement group and for the journal Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. She is a Chartered Psychologist registered as a practitioner with the Health and Care Professions Council, and an NIHR Senior Investigator. She is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the Academy of Social Sciences and the Gerontological Society of America, chairs the British Psychological Society Advisory Group on Dementia, and serves on the Governing Boards of the Global Council on Brain Health and the Global Brain Health Institute.

Broad research specialisms

Ageing, cognitive health and dementia, including prevention of dementia and age-related cognitive disability, cognitive rehabilitation and other non-pharmacological interventions for people with cognitive impairment and dementia, care and support for people with dementia and their families, and improving quality of care for people with dementia in residential and nursing homes.