Guest Editors, Ivan Koychev and Bart Sheehan talk about why the 2024 BJPsych themed issue is so important and encourage submissions to the now extended themed issue
Call for Papers: Pathway to Delivery of Dementia Disease Modification
Submission Due Date - DEADLINE EXTENDED: 31st October 2023
Rationale:
Dementia remains a huge and growing challenge for care systems worldwide. Results of recent trials now raise
the real possibility of disease modification. Even moderate effect sizes for such therapies will require adoption of
new models for dementia treatment due to challenges in identifying appropriate patients, delivering treatment and
monitoring side effects.
Current CSF and PET biomarkers allow in vivo diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Implementing these methodologies
widely would require changes to resourcing and training in mental health and geriatric services. In addition, a debate
around the risk benefits of implementing screening for dementia informed by genetics, digital and blood biomarkers
is warranted. Finally, 40% of cases are thought to be due to known preventable risk factors, thus raising the question
of cost-effectiveness of primary and secondary prevention programmes.
The themed issue invites a range of papers aimed at informing practitioners of current and near-term changes to
dementia care.
Suggested scope and topics:
We would welcome the following papers:
• Analysis piece on the regulatory approval controversies of amyloid based therapies
• Path to clinical implementation of plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease
• Clinical utility of radionuclide imaging in the diagnosis and prognosis of dementia
• Role of digital technologies in the implementation of preventative programmes for dementia
• Assessment of cognition and activities of daily living using digital technologies across the dementia spectrum
• Efficacy of preventative programmes for dementia
• Repurposing trials for dementia disease modification
• Use of electronic health records to accelerate dementia research
• Cost-benefit of screening programmes for dementia
We now invite submissions from all authors describing original research and systematic reviews, along with
editorials and analysis pieces. We welcome research that offers the potential of definitive evidence with strong
methods, including robust external validation and/or large samples. To find out more, or to inform us of your
intention to submit, please contact bjp@rcpsych.ac.uk.
Why submit?
• Submissions handled and reviewed efficiently by experts in the field
• All papers in the theme issue will be free to view for a month
• All authors will have the option to publish their article online shortly after acceptance
• The theme issue is sent directly to 18,000 RCPsych members
• Articles in the previous themed issue were downloaded an average 563 times in 5 months. The total number of downloads for all articles included in that issue is over 10,600.
Guest Editors:
Dr Ivan Koychev, University of Oxford; Dr Bart Sheehan, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Professor Dag Arsland, King’s College London; Dr Judith Harrison, Newcastle University; Professor Paresh Malhotra, Imperial College London; Dr Ross Dunne, University of Manchester