Dr Joanne Rodda

About

Dr Rodda is a consultant psychiatrist and has been involved in teaching and research throughout her career. She began work at KMMS in September 2020 and is currently divides her working week between the medical school and her role as a consultant psychiatrist and researcher in Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT).

Research interests

Dr Rodda is the KMPT dementia research clinical lead. Her research interests include early diagnosis of dementia, young onset dementia, blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease, new drug treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, neuroimaging in dementia and intergenerational programmes. She was involved in the development of Join Dementia Research (a national online register for dementia researchers and volunteers) and is currently the Kent Principal Investigator for several NIHR portfolio studies in dementia and mild cognitive impairment. She has secured funding for a low-field MRI scanner which will be used for research into improving access to dementia assessment in Kent.

Teaching

Dr Rodda is the KMMS lead for the mental health curriculum and has developed the mental health programme for the year three longitudinal psychiatry module, as well as across other relevant parts of the programme. The mental health curriculum has been designed to equip and inspire KMMS students to provide the best possible care and support for people experiencing mental illness in any clinical setting, and to recognise mental well-being as essential to good health.

Dr Rodda is also a Senior Lecturer in Professional and Personal Development and is the academic lead for the Academic Peer Mentoring and Time for Dementia programmes in KMMS. She is leading several educational research projects including the use of different types of simulation and escape rooms to teach psychiatry, and the Kent and Medway Psychiatry Undergraduate Scheme (KAMPUS). KAMPUS aims to provide medical students with early exposure to psychiatry and is based on the successful PEEP programme, adapted to the needs of our medical school.

Dr Rodda has secured funding for a project to develop a virtual reality teaching simulation based on generative AI to help students to develop clinical skills in Psychiatry. She is also the KMMS representative for the University of Kent AI working group.

Dr Rodda has secured funding for a project to use generative AI and virtual reality to help students to develop clinical skills in Psychiatry. She will also be representing KMMS in the AI working group at the University of Kent.

Professional

Walpert, M., Mitchell, S., Bamford, C., Ivenso, C., McKirdy, S., Pattan, V., Rodda, J., Sikdar, S. and Barber, R. (2021), Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease before dementia: A study of UK psychiatrists. Alzheimer's Dement., 17: e051327. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.051327.

McCormick, S.A., Vatter, S., Carter, L.A., Smith, S.J., Orgeta, V., Poliakoff, E., Silverdale, M.A., Raw, J., Ahearn, D.J., Taylor, C., Rodda, J., Abdel-Ghany, T., Kwapong, B. and Leroi, I. 2019. Parkinson’s-adapted cognitive stimulation therapy: Feasibility and acceptability in Lewy body spectrum disorders. Journal of neurology, 266(7), pp.1756-1770.

Leroi, I., Vatter, S., Carter, L.A., Smith, S.J., Orgeta, V., Poliakoff, E., Silverdale, M.A., Raw, J., Ahearn, D.J., Taylor, C., Rodda, J., Abdel-Ghany, T. and McCormick, S. 2019. Parkinson’s-adapted cognitive stimulation therapy: a pilot randomized controlled clinical trial. Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders, 12, p.1756286419852217.

Rodda J, Carter J. (2016) A survey of UK services for younger people living with dementia. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 31(8):957-9.

Fonseca JA, Ducksbury R, Rodda J, Whitfield T, Nagaraj C, Suresh K, Stevens T, Walker Z. Factors that predict cognitive decline in patients with subjective cognitive impairment. Int Psychogeriatr. 2015 Oct;27(10):1671-7.

Rodda J, Gandhi SD, Mukadam N, Walker Z. (2013). Attitudes of UK psychiatrists to the diagnosis of MCI in clinical practice. International psychogeriatrics, 25(2), 286–291. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610212001500.

Rodda, J, Carter JE (2012). Cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine for symptomatic treatment of dementia. BMJ, 344, e2986.  

Walker Z, McKeith I, Rodda J, Qassem T, Tatsch K, Booij J, Darcourt J, O'Brien J. Comparison of cognitive decline between dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease: a cohort study. BMJ Open. 2012 Feb 8;2:e000380.

Rodda J, Walker Z, Carter J. (Sept 2011). Depression In Older Adults. BMJ, 343d5219.

Lamar M, Dannhauser TM, Walker Z, Rodda JE, Cutinha DJ, Shergill SS (2011) Memory complaints with and without memory impairment: the impact of leukoaraiosis on cognition. J In Neuropsychol Soc Nov 17(6) 1104-12.

Walker Z, Rodda J. Dopaminergic imaging: clinical utility now and in the future. Int Psychogeriatr 2011 Sep;23 Suppl 2: S32-40.

Rodda J, Okello A, Edison P, Dannhauser T, Brooks DJ, Walker Z. (2009) 11C PIB PET in Subjective Cognitive Impairment. European Psychiatry 25: 123-125.

Rodda J and Walker Z. The Mental State Examination. Chapter 25 in: Principles and Practice of Geriatric Psychiatry (3rd edition) Eds C. Katona, M. Abou-Saleh, A. Kumar. Wiley, UK (In press).

Rodda J, Dannhauser T, Cutinha D, Shergill S, Walker Z. (2011) Subjective cognitive impairment: functional MRI during a divided attention task European Psychiatry 26(7) 457-62.

Rodda J and Walker Z. (2009) 10 years of Cholinesterase Inhibitors. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 24:437-442.

Rodda J, Dannhauser T, Cutinha D, Shergill S, Walker Z. (2009) Subjective memory impairment: Increased prefrontal cortex activation compared to controls during an encoding task. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 24:865-874.

Rodda J, Morgan S and Walker Z. (2009) Are cholinesterase inhibitors effective in the management of the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease? A systematic review of randomized, placebo-controlled trials of donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine International Psychogeriatrics 21:813-824.