Understanding disease progression and risk of dementia on an individual level

Lead Investigator: Dr Marcella Montagnese 

Institution: University of Cambridge

Grant type: Career Development

Start date: July 2026

Duration: 12 months

Amount: £71, 964.98

Summary sentence:

Dr Marcella Montagnese aims to better understand how dementia progresses and the factors which might influence disease progression at an individual person level, ultimately aiming to create personalised risk profiles for people living with dementia.

Short description (100 words):

Every person with dementia experiences a type of dementia and a disease progression unique to themselves. However, most research looking at the timely and accurate diagnosis of different dementias as well as how dementia is expected to progress have relied on results based on large groups of people. 

In this project, Dr Montagnese aims to understand the brain changes seen in dementia and the factors which might affect the progression of these brain changes, on a person-by-person basis, using real-word brain scans and medical records from people taking part in global research studies.

Long description (250 words):

Dementia affects how people think, feel, and function in daily life. However, it does not look the same for everyone, different individuals will experience different types of dementia that will progress at different rates.

Dr Montagnese’s research group has previously developed “BrainCharts,” like children's growth charts, but for the brain. Just as children’s charts show if a child's height is developing as expected, BrainCharts can show if someone's brain structure is changing more rapidly than expected with natural aging.

In this project, Dr Montagnese will use thousands of real-world brain scans from NHS patients and from large global research studies and link these to people’s medical records, which includes information about diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure, to understand which brain areas change first in dementia, how quickly they change, and which factors might speed up or slow down the disease process, on a person-by-person basis.

This work will help the researchers to create personalised risk profiles for anyone with dementia which will help clinicians, people affected by dementia and their loved one’s spot problems earlier, plan treatments and support better, and ultimately improve quality of life. 

By tailoring care to everyone’s unique brain profile and circumstances, Dr Montagnese aims to improve diagnosis, monitor how the disease progresses more accurately, and identify people who might benefit most from specific treatments or lifestyle changes.