In today’s Autumn Statement, the Government announced a new Clinical Trials Delivery Accelerator (CTDA) focused on dementia. UK DRI Director Prof Siddharthan Chandran responds to the news.
Read Article
LGBTQ+ STEM Day takes place on 18 November: a day dedicated to celebrating the achievements of LGBTQ+ people working in science, technology, engineering and maths, as well as acknowledging the barriers they face, and the importance of improving visibility and representation. Ahead of this year’s LGBTQ+ STEM Day, we spoke to Aeverie Heuchan (UK DRI at Cardiff) and Tua Piehl (UK DRI HQ) who have been instrumental in establishing the UK DRI’s Pride Network.
Read Article
We are delighted to announce a new partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF), to establish the UK’s first research Centre dedicated to finding new treatments to prevent, halt and ultimately find cures for vascular dementia.
Read Article
We are proud to announce that seven UK DRI researchers have featured in this year’s Highly Cited Researcher 2023 list from Clarivate. The annual ranking identifies researchers who have demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade.
We are delighted that the first projects to be funded through LifeArc’s £30 million strategic partnership with the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) have been announced today. A total of £14.5 million has been allocated to support seven innovative projects seeking to develop new tests, treatments and medical devices for the more than one million people in the UK living with neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, motor neuron disease, fronto-temporal dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
Read Article
A groundbreaking study spearheaded by Prof Gabriel Balmus at the UK DRI at Cambridge, in collaboration with Prof David K. Simon from Harvard Medical School and biotech innovator Mission Therapeutics, has provided new insights into Parkinson’s disease and the potential to develop targeted treatments. The study's findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.
Read Article
We are delighted to announce four new Emerging Leaders at the Institute: Dr Sophie Morse and Dr Johanna Jackson (both UK DRI at Imperial); Dr Emma Clayton (UK DRI at King’s) and Dr Phil Weston (UK DRI at UCL).
Read Article
We are delighted to announce a new strategic industry partnership with pharmaceutical company SPARC, alongside the funding of a new project. Developing effective therapeutics, diagnostics and technologies for people affected by dementia is a clearly defined vision of the UK DRI.
Read Article
Having established a foundation of outstanding discovery science in its first five years, the UK DRI is set to capitalise on new insights into the causes and drivers of neurodegenerative disease with a programme of funding awards targeted at the translation of knowledge into urgently-needed treatments, technologies and diagnostics for dementia.
Read Article
A new study by Prof Will McEwan and Dr Sophie Sanford (UK DRI at Cambridge) has revealed that type-I interferons, a part of the innate immune response, may increase the build up of misfolded toxic tau protein in Alzheimer’s, and could provide a new avenue for disease therapeutics. The study is published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Read Article
The UK DRI exists to improve the lives of people affected by dementia. By involving people who have lived experience in our research, we can ensure new treatments and technologies meet the needs of those affected. Whilst the UK DRI has always engaged people with lived experience in its research, a new initiative at the UK DRI Care Research & Technology Centre aims to take this one step further.
Read Article
Returning to Brighton for a second year, our annual conference Connectome took place earlier this month. More than 600 UK DRI researchers from our seven centres across the UK gathered together for an event packed full of exciting talks, poster sessions, and networking opportunities.
In a study led by Dr Nir Grossman (UK DRI at Imperial), scientists have developed a new form of deep brain stimulation that does not require surgery and could provide an alternative treatment option for brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Read Article
In an exciting new project, Dr Kat Bowles (UK DRI at Edinburgh) will investigate the workings of a little-known gene which may play a role in the development of Parkinson’s. This work could deliver new targets for Parkinson’s treatments.
Read Article
AstronauTx, a biotech company founded by a group including UK DRI researchers, aiming to develop novel treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, today announced the completion of a £48 million ($61 million) Series A financing.
Read Article
Connectome 2023 saw the return of the recognition prizes, introduced last year on the UK DRI’s 5th anniversary, to recognise the efforts and achievements of staff across the Institute over the past year. The prizes were awarded by UK DRI Director Prof Siddharthan Chandran in the closing remarks of the conference, highlighting those individuals excelling in the categories of computational reproducibility, 3R’s, imaging, posters and engagement.
Read Article
We are at a crucial point in dementia research, with the promise of further scientific breakthroughs around the corner, which – with the right investment into research – could lead to rapid, transformational progress in the coming years. To capitalise on this, it is essential that we now double down on our efforts. As World Alzheimer’s Month 2023 draws to a close, the time is now to build on this momentum, and ensure we bring new treatments into reality for all affected by dementia.
Read Article
Huntington’s disease is an area of high unmet clinical need, with no effective treatments available to stop or slow the progression of the disease. New Group Leader Dr Tom Massey joins the UK DRI at Cardiff where, as a clinician scientist, he wants to bridge the gap between the lab and the clinic, developing new therapeutic targets for Huntington’s disease (HD) and related conditions.
Read Article
Involving people with lived experience of dementia is essential to ensuring that our research meets the most pressing needs of people affected, and that interventions for dementia are as accessible, usable, and effective as possible. In this article, we showcase some of the amazing work people who have lived experience have done at the UK DRI, and the impact it has made.
Read Article
In the past year, we have seen unprecedented progress in Alzheimer’s research, as two new drugs, lecanemab and donanemab, showed for the first time that the disease can be slowed. However, many challenges and questions remain around the drugs. In this article, Prof Sir John Hardy and Prof Bart De Strooper take a closer look at some of these issues – asking what we can learn from lecanemab and donanemab to take forward and develop safer, more effective treatments.
Read Article