Clinics
- Cambridge Memory Clinic (NHS): Alzheimer’s disease, MCI, other dementias and neurological disorders affecting cognition
- Disorders of Movement and Cognition (DMC) Clinic (NHS): Progressive supranuclear palsy and Corticobasal degeneration
- “Early-onset Dementia” Clinic or Frontotemporal Dementia Clinic (NHS): Frontotemporal dementia and related disorders
- Parkinson’s Disease Research Clinic
- Huntington’s Disease Clinic (NHS).
Parkinson’s Disease Research Clinic
This clinic was set up to assess patients with PD interested in being involved in research. The clinic is held weekly at the Brain Repair Centre and patients and their carers are invited to undertake a number of assessments and provide a blood sample. The data is then entered onto a database and serves as our main source of identifying patients for other studies including new treatments.
To date our research studies have looked at different thinking problems in PD and their basis which has also involve scanning of the brain. In addition we are keen to find new markers of disease in the blood and even in the fluid that circulates around the brain (CSF) as well as new therapies. These can take the form of new drugs as well as more experimental treatments with gene and cell based therapies.
Email: Lindsey Wilkin lw518@cam.ac.uk (general enquiries)
or call 01223 331160
Location Website: John van Geest Brain Repair Centre
Free patient parking next to clinic.
Huntington’s Disease Clinic
This clinic was set up to assess patients with HD at all stages of the disease from those who carry the gene without any clinical signs or symptoms to those with advanced disease. Whilst the clinic is designed to see and manage patients with HD it is also keen to recruit such individuals into research.
The clinic is held weekly at the Brain Repair Centre and patients and their carers are invited through the Genetics Department. Once in the clinic they can be seen by a number of specialists including a neurologist (Roger Barker), neuropsychologists and the regional HDA advisor (Sue Hill). In addition further information is also often collected so that the data can be entered into a central database, that was European wide but is soon set to go global. The database serves as our main source of identifying patients for other studies including new treatments.
To date our research studies that have come out of this clinic have looked at different problems in HD and their basis, such as sleeping and thinking problems. In addition we are keen to find new markers of disease in the blood and even in the fluid that circulates around the brain (CSF) as well as new therapies. These can take the form of new drugs as well as more experimental treatments with gene and cell based therapies.
Email: Lindsey Wilkin lw518@cam.ac.uk (general enquiries)
or call 01223 331160
Location Website: John van Geest Brain Repair Centre
Free patient parking next to clinic.
Disorders of Movement and Cognition: Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD)
This specialist clinic provides support for patients and carers throughout East Anglia who are affected by Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Corticobasal Degeneration. We also manage rarer neurodegenerative disorders that bring a challenging combination of movement disorders (“parkinsonism”) and cognitive impairments (with or without dementia) or psychiatric symptoms (personality or behavioural change). We work closely with the PSP Association, Neurologists and Community services to provide a comprehensive and proactive care package.
We believe that there is much that can be done to help patients and carers, from accurate early diagnosis, timely identification and treatment for a wide variety of symptoms at different stages of the illness (including drug treatments, but also speech and language, physiotherapy and occupational therapies), and advice on social, legal and financial aspects of life with PSP and CBD. There is no “one-care-fits-all” for these complex illnesses, and so we provide an individualized service.
We also offer opportunities to take part in research into these illnesses, although this is not a pre-condition of coming to clinic. To see what our patients and carers see about us, you can see the summary of our recent audit here.
Contact: Lucy Bowns lb648@medschl.cam.ac.uk (general enquiries) or James Rowe james.rowe@nhs.net (for patient information)
Secretary: 01223 760696
Location Map: Herchel Smith Building
There is free patient parking next to clinic.
Team: Professor James Rowe (consultant), Dr Tim Rittman (consultant and senior clinical research associate), Lucy Bowns (research nurse), Julie Wiggins (research nurse), and additional support from Sarah Ayerst (nurse) and Teresa Carman (secretarial support).
“Early-onset Dementia” and Frontotemporal Dementia Clinic
Patients and families affected by Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD, or Pick’s disease) require comprehensive and continuing care. Frontotemporal Dementia includes a broad ‘family’ of diseases with distinct symptoms and complications, each requiring specialist assessment and individualized management. The family of FTD includes the behavioural variant of FTD and the primary progressive aphasias (semantic dementia, progressive non-fluent aphasia, and logopenic aphasia). We also support people affected by primary apraxia of speech.
We work closely with the regional services for young people with dementia, including specialist nurses, psychiatrists and old-age psychiatry services. We also host a carer meeting for carers and families affected by FTD, in partnership with the UK FTD Support Group, with discussions of research, open Questions and Answers, and visitor speakers on financial, legal, stress and other aspects of living with Frontotemporal Dementia. We also offer opportunities to take part in research into these illnesses, although this is not a pre-condition of coming to clinic.
Team: We provide a multidisciplinary service from Addenbrooke’s Hospital, including our doctors (consultant James Rowe), aphasiology (Prof Matthew Lambon-Ralph and Prof Karalyn Patterson), neuropsychology (Emma Woodberry) and research nurse Carolyn Timberlake.
Contact: Lucy Bowns lb648@medschl.cam.ac.uk (general enquiries) or James Rowe james.rowe@nhs.net (for patient information)
Secretary: Teresa Carman Teresa.carman@addenbrookes.nhs.uk
Location Map: Herchel Smith Building
Free patient parking next to clinic. The clinic is held three times per month.
Cambridge Memory Clinic
The Cambridge Memory Clinic is one of the most longstanding memory clinics in the UK. Our internationally recognized team of consultants represents a close partnership between the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (Dr Andrew Graham) and the Cambridge University Clinical School Department of Neurology (Professors James Rowe and Giovanna Mallucci) and Department of Psychiatry (Professor John O’Brien).
We provide expert assessment and management for a wide range of memory and cognitive disorders, whether dues to neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s disease [AD], Mild Cognitive Impairment [MCI], Frontotemoral dementia [FTD], Dementia with Lewy Bodies [DLB] and more), vascular dementia [VD], encephalitis (including immune mediated encephalitis), late onset leucodystrophy, Normal Pressure hydrocephalus [NPH], and memory problems related to depression, anxiety and epilepsy. We are supported by a great team of neuropsychologists, specialist nurses and neuroradiologists with state of the art diagnostics and therapeutics for memory disorders.
The clinic also leads in the training of specialist in Dementia, including junior doctors and specialist nurses in neurology, psychiatry, medicine for the elderly and other specialties; clinical training of SpRs and clinical research fellows; and the famous Cambridge Dementia Course (www.cambridgedementiacourse.com).
As part of the Biomedical Research Unit in Dementia and Biomedical Research Centre Neurodegeneration theme, the clinic is a focal point for leading international clinical research into the causes, mechanisms and treatments for Dementia.
Secretary & referrals: Teresa Carman Teresa.carman@addenbrookes.nhs.uk
Contact: Lucy Bowns lb648@medschl.cam.ac.uk (general enquiries)
Location Map: Herchel Smith Building
Free patient parking next to clinic. The clinic takes place every week.