Polly Trucco works as a Senior Research Associate at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and a researcher in NIHR ARC East of England’s Palliative and End-of-Life Care theme.
Polly qualified as an occupational therapist and began her career in neurological rehabilitation. After more than a decade of clinical practice, she joined the Neurodegeneration Network research team in the School of Health Sciences at UEA, where she worked in research projects on Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and dementia.
In 2024, Polly completed her PhD in Health Sciences at UEA. Her doctoral research focused on the experiences of anticipatory grief in family carers pf people living with MND. Her present work focuses on frontotemporal dementia (FTD), particularly the development of an evidence-based intervention to support families living with this condition in managing symptoms associated with the condition.
Polly’s research integrates clinical expertise with a strong commitment to improving quality of life and wellbeing for both people with neurodegenerative conditions and their families. More broadly, her work aims to advance understanding of carers’ support needs and to inform more effective approaches to supporting them in navigating the challenges of caregiving.