Dementia Research
During early 2011, the NIHR issued a call for research on dementia. This call extended across the translational pathway, covering the fields of cause, cure and care, including prevention. Seven of the NIHR research programmes participated.
Funding
On 21 December 2012, the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced £22 million of NIHR funding, for twenty one successful research projects that will pioneer dementia diagnosis and ground breaking treatments.
DH press release
List of 21 funded Dementia research projects
The call supported the NIHR response to ‘Living well with Dementia – A National Dementia Strategy’, published in February 2009. It also supported the work of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Dementia Research (MAGDR) on ways to improve the volume and impact of dementia research.
Dementia Themed call specification document
A briefing event was held at Central Hall Westminster, London in January 2011, at which Paul Burstow, MP, Minister of State for Care Services, officially announced the call. Researchers were able to listen to speakers from MAGDR, and find out more about the support and funding provided by the NIHR for this call.
Research proposals were required to relate to dementia and be within the remit of one of the seven participating programmes:
Although funding decisions have been announced, the participating programmes continue to be interested in receiving proposals addressing dementia in areas not otherwise well covered in their portfolios.
Support provided by the NIHR Dementias and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network
The NIHR Dementias and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network (DeNDRoN) supports high-quality clinical research in the NHS, so that patients can benefit from new and better treatments. DeNDRoN provided support to nine researchers that submitted applications to the Dementia Themed Call. Further information is available on the DeNDRoN website.
The NIHR Dementia Research Portfolio
A summary of the previous and existing dementia research portfolio across the seven NIHR programmes is available.
NIHR Dementia Research Portfolio
Patient and Public Involvement
Research programmes need people with experience or an understanding of dementia to review the research proposals so that we can get a ‘first hand experience’ perspective on the research applications. Read more about public involvement in reviewing proposals.
Referees
Referees play a vital part in maintaining and improving the quality of the NIHR research programmes. Read more about Expert Referee Recruitment.