Alzheimer’s Research UK and Gates Ventures have recently established the Dementia Frontiers Fund, a bold new multi-million pound global initiative designed to address the most complex and urgent questions holding back progress in dementia research.
Dementia research is building momentum
If nothing changes, one in two people will face dementia in their lifetime, either by developing the condition, caring for someone affected, or both.
We’ve seen huge progress in recent years in dementia research – from the first treatments that can slow down the decline of memory and thinking for people with early Alzheimer’s, to blood tests to diagnose the disease set to become a reality.
However, despite these remarkable advances, there are still big challenges to overcome.
“Dementia is the defining health challenge of our time and meeting it requires ambition and collaboration on a global scale,” says Dr Susan Kohlhaas, Executive Director of Research and Partnerships at Alzheimer’s Research UK.
“The Dementia Frontiers Fund represents a bold new approach — bringing together world-leading scientists and partners to pursue the breakthroughs that could transform our understanding and treatment of the diseases that cause dementia.”
Critical questions in dementia research
To pinpoint where progress would have the greatest impact, Alzheimer’s Research UK brought together an international panel of scientific experts, chaired by Professor Sir John Hardy from University College London.
This work ultimately led to narrowing down to three questions:
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an we predict when dementia symptoms will start and how quickly they’ll progress? A better understanding of this could enable earlier, more accurate diagnosis and speed up development of new treatments
Why do some people live to an old age without ever developing free of dementia symptoms despite having known risk factors for dementia? This knowledge could be used to find new ways to prevent and treat dementia.
How do different brain changes, involved in dementia interact and which matter most? This could lead to treatments that address the whole disease and not just one piece.
Addressing these critical questions would be game-changing – helping us diagnose dementia earlier, develop effective treatments and even prevent dementia before it starts.
Prof Sir John Hardy, Vice President of Alzheimer’s Research UK adds: “As a researcher, I’ve spent my career working to understand the causes of dementia, and I know first-hand how complex this challenge is. The Dementia Frontiers Fund is about tackling those big unknowns head-on. By uniting global teams and giving them the freedom to be bold, this initiative could finally unlock the answers that have held back progress for so long.”
Bringing together experts from around the globe
The new Dementia Frontiers Fund will bring together world-leading specialists both from within and beyond the dementia research space, this may include scientists, engineers and clinicians, to address these roadblocks.
Research teams worldwide are invited to apply for start-up awards to support bold collaborations and innovative ideas which align with the programme’s research questions.
The most promising projects will be selected by an independent panel of experts, and these teams will receive larger scale funding to progress their research further.
Keeping people at the heart of this initiative
People with lived experience of dementia have been central to shaping the Dementia Frontier Fund’s priorities and will continue to play a vital role as the programme develops.
Katie Foster, one of the members of our Lived Experience Panel who was involved in developing the initiative shares her excitement: “There is great excitement about the prospect of new approaches to dementia research; to have fresh perspectives looking at things in different ways.”
“This fund could potentially produce some very good results giving people some genuine hope at last. Whereas, at the moment when people start to experience dementia in their own family, they feel abandoned and lost. And here’s something that might ultimately produce some real breakthroughs for us all”.
This global initiative will drive discoveries that could transform diagnosis, treatment and quality of life for millions of people affected by dementia and ultimately bring us closer to a cure.
Niranjan Bose, Managing Director, Gates Ventures adds: “At Gates Ventures we believe that the world’s most urgent health challenges demand bold and collaborative solutions. Now is the time to make the difference – by backing ambitious science today, we can change the outlook for millions of people tomorrow.”
Alzheimer’s Research UK is excited to work on this initiative alongside Gates Ventures, in collaboration with research partners Robertson Foundation, and Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative, with support from Q charitable trust.
