(Average reading time 2 mins)
Dr Johnny Tam, is a recent winner of the prestigious Medical Research Council Max Perutz Award for Science Communication 2025. The Science Communication Award challenges PhD students to communicate to a non-scientific audience why their research matters.
Based at the Anne Rowling Clinic, the Digital App for Speech & Health Monitoring (DASH) research project investigates the use of speech recordings and user-friendly technologies to better understand, diagnose and monitor neurodegenerative conditions such as motor neuron disease (MND) and dementia.
Johnny Tam is a Rowling and Dr Hugh S.P. Binnie Scholar. His PhD at the University of Edinburgh is supervised by Prof Suvankar Pal, Dr Oliver Watts and Prof Siddharthan Chandran.
“MND is a devastating disease that robs people of their voices and strength. Speech technology can empower patients, improve care and accelerate research to find treatments.” Dr Johnny Tam
Johnny’s video - a short animation summarises the DASH research project’s aims.
You can view the winning short video here (1 minute viewing time)
The video was made possible by the generous participation and guidance of Steven Barrett OBE, who lent his voice for the narration.
Congratulations to Vanessa Drevenakova, a fellow UK Dementia Research Institute PhD researcher, whose moving and insightful piece won the writing category. Her work shines an important light on the human experience of neurodegenerative disease, complementing the scientific perspectives showcased in this year’s awards.
Thank you to The Observer for amplifying these voices and helping bring essential MND research into public conversation.
Relevant Links
The Observer article (external website)
The MRC Max Perutz Award page (external website)
The DASH research project (Anne Rowling Clinic website)
Dr Johnny Tam profile (Anne Rowling Clinic website)
Prof Suvankar Pal profile
Prof Siddharthan Chandran profile
Dr Oliver Watts profile (Anne Rowling Clinic website)
SpeakUnique website (external website)
MND-SMART (external website)
UK Dementia Research Institute (external website)
Image credit: Joel Knight Photography