Current PhD studentships
Through our PhD grants we are supporting new researchers in the field in the areas of cause, cure, care or prevention of all types of dementia.
2019/2020
Exploring the role of the thalamus in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease
Lead Investigator: Dr Tim Viney
Institution: University of Oxford
Grant type: PhD Studentship
Awarded: 2019/20
Using the cell’s internal machinery to break down protein plaques in dementia
Lead Investigator: Dr Edward Avezov
Institution: University of Cambridge
Grant type: PhD studentship
Awarded: 2019/20
Themes: amyloid, cause
Investigating if peptide inhibitors can treat Alzheimer’s disease
Lead Investigator: Professor David Allsop
Institution: Lancaster University
Grant type: Project
Awarded: 2019/20
Themes: Alzheimer's, cause
Understanding the role of volunteering in the future of dementia care
Lead Investigator: Professor Heather Wilkinson
Institution: University of Edinburgh
Grant type: PhD studentship
Awarded: 2019/20
Theme: volunteering, care
Exploring the link between major depressive disorder and Alzheimer’s disease
Lead Investigator: Dr Magdalena Sastre
Institution: Imperial College London
Grant type: PhD studentship
Awarded: 2019/20
Theme: depression
Improving driving safety assessments for people with dementia
Lead Investigator: Dr Paul Donaghy
Institution: Newcastle University
Grant type: PhD Studentship
Awarded: 2019/20
Themes: driving, safety
Understanding the risk of developing dementia in UK military veterans
Lead Investigator: Professor Neil Greenberg
Institution: King’s College London
Grant type: PhD studentship
Awarded: 2019/20
Theme: risk factors, lifestyle
Understanding the role of mRNA and tau in recognition memory
Lead Investigator: Professor Elizabeth Warburton
Institution: University of Bristol
Grant type: PhD Studentship
Awarded: 2019/20
Theme: tau, cause
Investigating cell waste removal genes in frontotemporal dementia
Lead Investigator: Professor John Hardy
Institution: University College London
Grant type: PhD Studentship
Awarded: 2019/20
Theme: cause, Frontotemporal dementia
Identifying brain features to diagnosis and monitor Alzheimer’s disease accurately
Lead Investigator: Dr Richard Killick
Institution: Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
Grant type: PhD studentship
Duration: 2019/2020
Theme: diagnosis, Alzheimer's disease
Understanding how to prevent the build-up of toxic tau in cell models
Lead Investigator: Dr Will McEwan
Institution: University of Cambridge
Grant type: PhD Studentship
Awarded: 2019/20
Themes: tau, cause
‘Use it or lose it’: What’s the truth for dementia?
Lead Investigator: Dr Dorina Cadar
Institution: University College London
Grant type: PhD studentship
Awarded: 2019/2010
Theme: risk factors, prevention
2018/2019
Understanding the role of mitochondria in dementia with Lewy bodies
Lead Investigator: Dr Ilse Pienaar
Institution: University of Sussex
Grant awarded: 2018/2019
Theme: Dementia with Lewy bodies, cause
Can leptin, the anti-obesity hormone, protect brain cells?
Lead Investigator: Dr Jenni Harvey
Institution: University of Dundee
Grant awarded: 2018/2019
Theme: hormones, cure
Saving synapses in Alzheimer’s disease
Lead Investigator: Professor Patricia Salinas
Institution: University College London
Grant awarded: 2018/2019
Themes: cause
Supporting family carers to carry out person-centred care
Lead Investigator: Dr Gerard Riley
Institution: University of Birmingham
Grant awarded: 2018/2019
Themes: carers, support, person-centred care
Brain scans to spot signs of Alzheimer’s disease in the choroid plexus
Lead Investigator: Dr Jack Wells
Institution: University College London
Grant awarded: 2018/2019
Themes: diagnosis, scanning
2017/2018
Using virtual reality technology to detect the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease
Lead Investigator: Dr Dennis Chan
Institution: University of Cambridge
Grant awarded: 2017/2018
Theme: cause
Helping people in care homes with hearing problems to communicate
Lead Investigator: Dr Piers Dawes
Institution: University of Manchester
Grant awarded: 2017/2018
Theme: care, support, hearing problems, care homes
Understanding how dementia services can meet the needs of Black African and Caribbean people
Lead Investigator: Professor Paul Higgs
Institution: University College London
Grant awarded: 2017/2018
Theme: care, support, services
Using an innovative approach to prevent the toxic build-up of amyloid in Alzheimer’s disease
Lead Investigator: Dr Jody Mason
Institution: University of Bath
Grant awarded: 2017/2018
Themes: Alzheimer's disease; drug discovery
Understanding links between diabetes, infections and dementia risk
Lead Investigator: Dr Charlotte Warren-Gash
Institution: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Grant awarded: 2017/2018
Themes: Big data; public health; comorbidities
Understanding the impact of visual impairment on life with dementia
Lead Investigator: Dr Claire Hutchinson
Institution: University of Leicester
Grant awarded: 2017/2018
Themes: Care research; eyesight
Understanding how people from minority ethnic backgrounds can access better support
Lead Investigator: Dr Jan Oyebode
Institution: University of Bradford
Grant awarded: 2017/2018
Themes: care research, BAME research; access to services
Keep talking for longer: speech therapy to help people living with dementia stay in the conversation
Lead Investigator: Dr Catherine Tattersall
Institution: University of Sheffield
Grant awarded: 2017/2018
Themes: care; speech therapy
Providing better care for care home residents with both dementia and cancer
Lead Investigator: Dr Laura Ashley
Institution: Leeds Beckett University
Grant awarded: 2017/2018
Themes: care; care homes; comorbidities
2016/2017
Investigating a potential pathway in the development of frontotemporal dementia
Lead Investigator: Dr Kurt De Vos
Institution: University of Sheffield
Grant awarded: 2016/2017
Themes: Frontotemporal dementia; cause
Understanding the role of the C9orf72 gene in frontotemporal dementia
Lead Investigator: Dr Kevin Talbot
Institution: University of Oxford
Grant awarded: 2016/2017
Themes: Frontotemporal dementia; genetics; cause
Finding drugs to manage bladder and bowel control in people with Alzheimer's disease
Lead Investigator: Dr Jerome Swinny
Institution: University of Portsmouth
Grant awarded: 2016/2017
Themes: Alzheimer's disease; incontinence research; drug discovery
Does targeting the immune system have the potential to treat Alzheimer’s disease?
Lead Investigator: Dr David Brough
Institution: University of Manchester
Grant awarded: 2016/2017
Themes: Alzheimer's disease; drug discovery; immune system; cure
Further understanding of the role of the immune system in blood flow to the brain
Lead Investigator: Professor Karen Horsburgh
Institution: University of Edinburgh
Grant awarded: 2016/2017
Themes: Alzheimer's disease; vascular dementia; immune system; cause
Understanding what causes the increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease in Down’s syndrome
Lead Investigator: Dr Frances Wiseman
Institution: University College London
Grant awarded: 2016/2017
Themes: Alzheimer's disease; cause; Down's syndrome; cell biology
2014/2015
Investigating how tau tangles spread between brain cells in dementia
Lead Investigator: Dr J. Mark Cooper
Institution: Institute of Neurology, University College LondonGrant awarded: 2014/2015
Themes: Cause; brain cells