Alzheimer’s Research UK To Invest £50m In UK Dementia Research Institute

Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, has committed £50m of new partnership funding for the UK Dementia Research Institute – the biggest financial commitment to a single research initiative in the charity’s history.

The Institute was announced by the Prime Minister last year, with £150m of Government funding already pledged. Today two charities – Alzheimer’s Research UK and Alzheimer’s Society – have each pledged £50m towards the work of the Institute, bringing the total commitment to over a quarter of a billion pounds.

Alzheimer’s Research UK will also bring significant added value to its investment by developing formal links between the Institute and key Alzheimer’s Research UK strategic initiatives, such as its Drug Discovery Alliance, the Dementia Consortium and the Alzheimer’s Research UK Research Network.

With leadership from the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Institute will bring together leading scientists to focus on understanding the biological mechanisms that lead to dementia, in order to accelerate research into new treatments and to drive new approaches to diagnosis. The Institute will also carry out care and public health research, helping to inform future care provision and prevention strategies.

Hilary Evans, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

“Alzheimer’s Research UK’s £50m commitment to the UK Dementia Research Institute as a founding partner adds major impetus in our drive to deliver new dementia treatments. As the largest joint effort in dementia research the UK has ever seen, this commitment sends a strong signal that we are serious about taking the fight to the condition. Through world-leading research we can transform the lives of people with dementia, and our investment will help accelerate progress, as well as uniting the brightest scientific minds to focus on this great medical challenge. Alzheimer’s Research UK’s existing strategic initiatives, such as our Drug Discovery Alliance, will ensure promising breakthroughs made at the Institute are fed directly into the development of much-needed new treatments. The Institute, the power of the partnership around it and the potential it holds to transform UK research mark the next major step in our journey towards defeating dementia.”