UK Dementia partnership offering £100,000-200,000 awards for dementia research projects

The Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) in partnership with the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) has announced that it will provide a series of awards between £100,000 and £200,000 to support research projects aimed at developing new medicines for dementia.

Angus Grant, CEO of Dementia Discovery Fund, commented: “Dementia is arguably the greatest single global healthcare challenge, soon affecting 50 million people worldwide at an estimated annual cost to the global economy of approaching a trillion dollars. The DDF continues to work to identify opportunities to invest in and advance innovative science from idea to the clinic. The launch of our new award, in collaboration with the Dementia Research Institute, is a further step in achieving this goal. DDF is ideally positioned to provide scientists with the funding and business support they need to take their projects through development with the potential, if successful, to form new companies in the future.”

Having raised £250 million from an influential group of strategic investors, the DDF has become the first and largest venture fund focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies for dementia.

Bart De Strooper, Director of UK Dementia Research Institute, said: “The UK Dementia Research Institute exists to improve our understanding of dementia and translate this knowledge into treatments and services that will improve lives. This huge task is possible when researchers, charities and for-profit initiatives come together. We are very happy to be working with the Dementia Discovery Fund to launch D3A, an exciting accelerator programme that will move our science closer to the clinic.”

Louis Goss