Dr. Andy Northcott is a Senior Lecturer at the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory, University of West London. Andy is originally from the North East, he is slowly working his way south after a long stint livng in Manchester. He took the scenic route into research, finishing his BA in Politics at Manchester in 2003 before spending his wilderness years travelling the world and working a selection of fun but poorly paid jobs (everything from a DJ to an English teacher in Japan before he settled into research). Andy returned to University in 2009, completing an MA in International Relations, which led to work with the General Medical Council, which piqued his interest in healthcare research. One quick PhD later and he is now at the University of West London, following posts at Sheffield, Cardiff and De Montfort. When he is not working he can be found exhausted near one of his three children or feeling guily for spending more money on records than he should. As for his research, it is all about improving experiences for people living with dementia. This primarily looks at hosptial admissions, using observation to understand how everyday care from mealtimes to going to the toilet impact on a person living with dementia. He is also committed to improving the quality of life of people living with dementia and their families via accessibility to the arts, and have worked on projects to make cinema and the opera dementia friendly.