Make Your Mark: Elevating Your Academic Visibility - BNA2025 Festival of Neuroscience

Recorded live at the BNA 2025 Festival of Neuroscience, this special episode of the Dementia Researcher Podcast explores how researchers can build visibility in authentic and meaningful ways.

Host Dr Emma Yhnell from Cardiff University is joined by Dr Ian Harrison from University College London, Dr Ekta Patel from the Medicines Discovery Catapult and Professor Fiona Ducotterd from the ARUK Drug Discovery Institute at UCL. They provide practical and personal discussion on raising your academic profile — both online and in real life.

Together, they reflect on the challenges and benefits of self-promotion, share strategies to overcome imposter syndrome, and offer advice on making the most of networking opportunities. They also talk about the power of storytelling, volunteering, and showing up as your real self in academic spaces.

Whether you're just getting started or trying to take the next step in your career, this episode offers relatable insights and actionable tips.

Top Takeaways:

• Start small — writing blog posts, joining a committee, or talking to someone new at a conference all count.
• Reframe self-promotion as sharing your work with purpose and generosity.
• Visibility builds confidence, not the other way around — and it’s something you can practise over time.
• Your perspective matters — you don’t need to be the loudest voice, just an authentic one.
• The people behind the science are just as important as the science itself.

A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk.

If you prefer to watch rather than listen, you will find a video version of this podcast on YouTube, on our website, and in selected podcast platforms.

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We gratefully acknowledge the support of our funders: Alzheimer’s Association, Race Against Dementia, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

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