Internationally renowned experts named Longitude Prize on Dementia judges

Nine world renowned experts in dementia care, ageing, data and innovation will judge the Longitude Prize on Dementia.

The judges include experts from the UK, Kenya and the USA, including representatives from the Alan Turing Institute, National Innovation Centre Ageing and the University of Cambridge.

Our judges are:

• John T O’Brien, Department of Psychiatry, Dementia Researcher at The University of Cambridge, UK
• Dawn Brooker, Emeritus Professor and former Director of the University of Worcester Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester, UK 
• Mary Furlong, President and CEO of Mary Furlong Associates, a global leader in consultancy for entrepreneurs and innovators in the longevity ecosystem, USA
• Dawne Garrett, Consultant Nurse, previously Lead for Older People & Dementia Care, Royal College of Nursing, UK 
• Eric Kihlstrom, Chair of Open Age and Aging2.0 Ambassador, UK
• Prof. Mugendi K. M’Rithaa, Industrial Designer, Educator and Researcher at Machakos University, Kenya
• Nic Palmarini, Director at National Innovation Centre Ageing, UK
• Simon Reeve, Director of Innovation at The Alan Turing Institute, UK
• Prof. Cathy Treadaway, Professor of Creative Practice at Cardiff School of Art and Design, UK

A global panel of people with lived experience of dementia – including people living with dementia, carers and former carers – will be involved at every judging stage of the Longitude Prize on Dementia and will review designs, ideas and give insights into how technologies could support and enable independent living for a person with a diagnosis of dementia. The Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) will share their advice with the judges to help them form their decisions.

Eric Kihlstrom, Longitude Prize on Dementia Judge and Ambassador for Aging 2.0 says:

“After the initial effects of the pandemic lockdowns, ageing has become a ‘white hot’ area for innovation, and Alzheimer’s falls into that category. This prize is focused on improving the quality of life for people living with dementia and their carers. If we can do that, we can keep people living with dementia out of institutional care, and we can help people live the lives they want to. If you’re an innovator with an inspirational idea, you sometimes don’t know where to go and don’t know what’s already been done. If we, as judges, can make that journey faster and help innovators to focus on the critical questions – it can make a big difference.”

Dawne Garrett, former Lead for Older People & Dementia Care, Royal College of Nursing says:

“The outcome of this prize has potential to make a tangible and lasting change to how people living with early-stage dementia approach this disease. There is no doubt that the kind of technology we hope to see will uproot lazy assumptions about what people living with dementia can and can’t do, and ensure that people can live in a dignified and fulfilling way.”

Learn more about our judges

In the coming weeks we will be publishing interviews with each of our esteemed panel to understand more about their expertise and the perspective they will be bringing to the judging panel.

The Longitude Prize on Dementia is a £4+ million challenge prize to incentivise the creation of AI and machine-learning based technologies that provide personalised solutions to help people with dementia to live longer, higher quality lives at home – learning from an person’s data about what they do, who they know and what’s most important to them as an individual.

Applications to the prize closed on 26 January 2023. Once the judging panel has assessed the candidates, 24 teams will be selected to receive £80k Discovery Awards and expert capacity-building support to develop their solutions. Five will receive an additional £300k in 2024 to develop a validated prototype or product with one going on to win the £1 million first prize in 2026.