Dementia Support Line
2023/24 Cohort of Dementia Research Leaders
In 2023/24 grant round, we funded two exceptional dementia researchers to become our next Dementia Research Leaders. Read more about their research and motivations.
Professor David Cash
Can biomarkers make clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease cheaper and faster?
Professor David Cash is a biomedical engineer who works closely with clinicians on developing imaging biomarkers for dementia. During his time in industry, Prof Cash was involved in the setup and management of large-scale imaging studies, primarily in Alzheimer's disease.
He returned to academia in 2011 as a researcher at University College London with the goal of identifying new and better ways researchers can use biomarkers in clinical trials. In the future, his research could find ways to identify potential new treatments for dementia more effectively.
I have successfully leveraged my Alzheimer’s Society fellowship to secure a permanent post at UCL, this allows me to create more opportunities around imaging and clinical trials, bolstering dementia research.
Dr Harry Pritchard
How do faulty blood vessels impact brain function in dementia?
Dr Harry Pritchard has focused his decade-long research career on investigating how blood flow impacts health and disease. Harry joined the University of Manchester in 2018 and dedicated his research efforts into pre-clinical dementia research, where he is establishing a research group with the aim to uncover the mysteries of vascular dysfunction in dementia.
My career goal is to create a diverse, productive, and supportive research group, that is scientifically world leading, whilst developing the next generation of dementia researchers looking into vascular complications.
A common mechanism involved in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia is a reduction in blood flow to the brain, resulting in damage that leads to symptoms of dementia.
Previous research by Dr Pritchard showed that in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia: a specific protein called a BK channel, which helps blood vessel function by controlling tiny electrical signals, becomes inactive. This causes the blood vessels to not work properly.
Dr Harry Pritchard said,
“By understanding what causes the reduced blood flow, and showing that restoring it improves symptoms, we could uncover a promising new target for dementia treatment.”
Our research
Today, Alzheimer's Society is supporting world-leading dementia research with over £50 million in investment. Our funded research will bring breakthroughs in how we understand the causes of dementia, develop effective treatments, improve care and ultimately find a cure for dementia.
In diseases like Alzheimer’s, harmful changes, such as protein build-up in the brain, can cause damage years before symptoms appear. We know that treating dementia early is beneficial, with the possibility of delaying or even stopping the disease before any long-term permanent damage can occur.
Clinical trials are the only way to test if new drugs and treatments are safe and effective. However, designing dementia clinical trials so that they can achieve this outcome can be expensive and time-consuming.
Prof Cash will study how detecting biomarkers, which are measurable signs in the body – like changes in brain scans or levels of certain proteins, can be effectively used to improve clinical trial designs aimed at preventing memory and other thinking problems from occurring. Current trials measure benefit using improvement of a single score at a single snapshot. David aims to find a way to measure benefit by measuring how long a drug can delay the start of the disease.
Prof David Cash said,
“I will study lots of data from multiple studies to determine how to best design trials, so that we can reliably detect if a drug is effective using the fewest number of participants in the shortest amount of time.”
Learn more about David's research