The announcement was made at an awards ceremony at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History on 28 June hosted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Louise Richardson. The Vice-Chancellor’s Public Engagement with Research Awards celebrate public engagement work across the University.
Dr Sexton has engaged the public with research through delivering Dementia Friends information sessions and public talks about her research, film screenings of the documentary “The Age of Champions”, and through her work as Founding Chair of Dementia Friendly Chipping Norton. The group aims to bring together people living with dementia, caregivers, community organisations and researchers to increase awareness of dementia locally and improve inclusion and quality of life.
I am delighted to be awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Public Engagement with Research award. My public engagement work aims to increase awareness about dementia and how healthy brain ageing can be encouraged through non-pharmacological means, which is my particular research focus. Public engagement activities are crucial to bringing research findings in this area to wider audiences, and it’s fantastic for this work to be valued by the University.
- Dr Claire Sexton
Since January 2015, Dr Sexton has delivered Dementia Friends Information Sessions to over 900 people, from different ages and backgrounds with the aim of increasing awareness about dementia and how healthy brain ageing can be encouraged through non-pharmacological means.
Dr Sexton has also built capacity for public engagement, encouraging, training and enabling other researchers at Oxford to take part.
The Vice-Chancellor's Public Engagement with Research Awards recognise and reward those at the University who undertake high-quality engagement activities and have contributed to building capacity in this area. Dr Sexton was one of five Early Career Researcher winners at the awards.
Watch Dr Sexton deliver a presentation on her research and outreach: