Research highlight

Nearly £5 million of funding awarded to a spectrum of cutting-edge dementia research

This £549,999 award will determine how mixed protein aggregates form, both in patient tissue and in cell culture, and how they might be identified in a diagnostic test to increase accurate diagnosis of mixed dementia.

Dr Devkee Vadukul, Imperial College London, aims to enable more people to receive an accurate mixed dementia diagnosis. Up to 50% of people living with dementia are likely to have a mix of proteins aggregating in the brain but, as dementia is diagnosed primarily by symptoms, the mix of proteins is only revealed during post-mortem analysis. 

Through her Fellowship, Devkee will analyse how mixed protein aggregates form, both in patient tissue and in cell culture, and how they might be identified in a diagnostic test, establishing Devkee as a research leader in protein aggregation studies in dementia.

This £549,747 award will use tissue slice culture to increase understanding into novel findings that tau knots can unravel and how potential treatments could speed up the unravelling process.

Dr Cara Croft, Queen Mary University London, has developed a new approach to watch tau knots forming in real-time in mouse brain tissue slices, which revealed that tau knots can also unravel. Cara will expand on these exciting findings to understand how this process works, and how treatments could potentially speed up the unravelling. As part of her Fellowship, Cara has received funding to mentor her first PhD student as primary supervisor, providing the opportunity for a PhD student to be part of this groundbreaking work and allowing Cara to further develop her leadership skills training the next generation of dementia researchers. 

This £549,996 award focuses on the glymphatic system, which flushes waste proteins from the brain, and how this system could be boosted to clear amyloid and tau proteins.

Being awarded a DRL Fellowship will allow Dr Ian Harrison, University College London, to dedicate more of his time to research and supervision of his expanding team. Ian has established his research group studying brain clearance systems and how these are involved in neurodegenerative diseases. Ian will specifically focus on the glymphatic system, which flushes waste proteins from the brain, including amyloid and tau that build up in Alzheimer’s disease. Ian will now define the therapeutic window of where boosting this process could prevent brain cell death.  

This £362,780 award will establish whether tau directly impacts astrocytes, cells wrapped around blood vessels that transfer nutrients, and whether resulting damage to these cells drives vascular damage.

Paula will test her hypothesis that tau is directly impacting astrocytes, cells wrapped around blood vessels that transfer nutrients, and the resulting damage to these cells is driving vascular damage. Paula is moving to the University of Edinburgh to further develop her research skills needed for the project, she will also develop mentorship skills by hosting an intern, funded by the postdoctoral fellowship.

Dr Anshua Ghosh, King’s College London, £361,985

This award will establish the molecular mechanisms of how amyloid-β and α-synuclein interact within neurons to cause synapse loss, a key pathology in many types of dementia.

Dr Sasha Philbert, University of Manchester, £319,684

This award will use MRI imaging to determine if sodium levels can be used as a biomarker to differentiate between vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr Md Shafiqur Rahman, University of Cambridge, £379,568

This award will use data from healthy individuals in the NIHR Bioresource to identify genetic risk factors for typical age-related cognitive function to determine similarities and differences with Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr Evelina Valionyte, University of Plymouth, £219,598

This award builds on Evelina’s previous work demonstrating caspase-6 downregulates p62 droplet-mediated autophagy because of cellular stress. She will now use therapeutic peptides to try and interrupt caspase-6 downregulation.
 

This £287,325 award will analyse the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on microglial cells, immune cells in the brain, and whether specific genetic factors influence microglial cell response.

Dr Austeja Dapkute, University of Oxford, will work towards a PhD through her Clinician and Healthcare Professionals Training Fellowship. How a brain responds to the presence of amyloid beta protein is different from person to person, with some people never developing Alzheimer’s disease despite high levels of amyloid beta in the brain. Using stem cells from participants in the MRC Deep and Frequent Phenotyping project, Austeja will generate microglia in the lab and expose the cells to Alzheimer’s-like conditions. 
 

Dr Neil Graham, Imperial College London, Post-CCT career development grant, £149,993

This award aims to develop new accurate clinical diagnostic tests for dementias following repetitive head impact exposure, such as in military service or in contact sports.

Professor Nathan Davies, Queen Mary University London, will use his project grant to explore how best to use virtual wards to support people living with dementia. 

People with dementia often prefer to be cared for at home, and hospital stays can be distressing for both the person and their carers. Nathan will review how virtual wards are currently used, and conduct observations and interviews with people living with dementia to ensure the recommendations developed are suitable for a wide range of individuals, including those in a rural/urban setting, of different socio-economic statuses and ethnicities.

Professor Philip Bath, University of Nottingham, £397,384

This award will investigate whether two drugs already used for heart disease can be used to prevent stroke patients with small vessel disease from developing dementia. 

Dr Bing Li, University College London, £375,015 

This award aims to use graphene field-effector transistors to create a simple, fast, accurate and cheap diagnostic test that detects multiple biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease.