Sarah Walter, PhD Candidate
Contact details
- Email: s2608485@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
- City
- San Diego, California
- Post code
Background
Sarah Walter is a Post Graduate Research Student at the University of Edinburgh. Her project is: "Empowering Research Ambassadors to Promote Participation of Under-served Communities in Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials".
Sarah is co-creating the program with a team of individuals with lived experience of dementia and research called the Research Ambassador Community Collective (RACC).
Sarah lives in San Diego, California, and works as the Program Administrator for the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) and for the Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) at the University of Southern California. Through her work she ensures participant perspectives are integrated into clinical trial design and conduct.
Research summary
Sarah leads Public and Participant Involvement (PPI) in Alzheimer's clinical trials, co-chairs an advisory board of research participants for both sporadic Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's in Down syndrome, and leads research on digital engagement and participant experience.
Knowledge exchange
Key publications
1. Walter S, Ptomey L, Head E, et al. “Being brave, being seen, and having your voice heard”: Perspectives of self-advocates and families toward accessible and impactful research of Alzheimer's disease in down syndrome. Alzheimer's Dement. 2025; 21:e70999. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70999
2. Walter S, McArdle RÍ, Largent EA, et al. Public and participant involvement as a pathway to inclusive dementia research. Alzheimer's Dement. 2025; 21:e14350. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14350
3. Walter S, Langford O, Jimenez-Maggiora GA, Abdel-Latif S, Rissman RA, Grill JD, Karlawish J, Atri A, Bruschi S, Hussen K, Donohue MC, Marshall GA, Jicha G, Racke M, Turner RS, van Dyck CH, Venkatesh V, Yarasheski KE, Sperling R, Cummings J, Aisen PS, Raman R. The AlzMatch Pilot Study - Feasibility of Remote Blood Collection of Plasma Biomarkers for Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease Trials. J Prev Alzheimers Dis. 2024;11(5):1435-1444. doi: 10.14283/jpad.2024.101. PMID: 39350391; PMCID: PMC11436450.
Project activity
"Empowering Research Ambassadors to Promote Participation of Under-served Communities in Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials"
Our objective is to develop a programme that empowers volunteers to promote dementia research participation in communities with the highest risk through culturally-tailored information, peer-led training and engagement. The programme is co-created with the Research Ambassador Community Collective (RACC) who will ensure we are prioritizing the evidence most relevant to dementia and lived experiences of these communities.
The programme includes two phases:
Phase 1. A realist review of programmes to train and support volunteers to promote research participation.
Phase 2. A feasibility study of a platform to train and support research ambassadors.
The project has ethics approval and is active.