The funding was awarded with support from Newcastle Health Innovation Partners (NHIP) Academy, and includes £262,000 from the Alzheimer’s Society, which was match funded with a further £262,000 by the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC).

The money will fund two clinical PhD fellows to undertake projects on how to improve the assessment and treatment of people with dementia.

Projects’ focus

The first project will focus on the link between psychosis and dementia. Older people who develop psychosis are at a higher risk of developing dementia, but little is currently known about how to predict who will develop dementia. This work will aim to improve the identification of dementia in psychosis and explore new treatments.

The second piece of work will investigate personalised medicine in Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). By undertaking a range of measures, called “biomarkers” that include an electroencephalogram (EEG) which measures electrical activity in the brain, this project seeks to identify markers to predict and measure treatment responses for people with LBD. This aims to lead to more personalised medication and care for patients, to ensure each person with dementia gets the treatment that is most appropriate for them.

Dr Paul Donaghy, Newcastle University Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist, who received funding from the NIHR Newcastle BRC during his PhD, and led the funding bid to the Alzheimer’s Society,  said: “These exciting projects aim to have a direct impact on the diagnosis and treatment of people with dementia.

“Crucially, this will also provide a springboard for two talented clinicians to develop into our research leaders of the future, to deliver the Alzheimer’s Society’s goal of improving the diagnosis and care of people with dementia.”

Dementia is a condition associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning. There are many different causes of dementia, and many different types.

Katherine Gray, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Dementia, which is the UK’s biggest killer, can affect people differently. This is why research is crucial in providing tailored treatment and support to everyone with dementia.

“At Alzheimer’s Society, we’re excited to be funding these promising projects which will be led by two exceptional clinicians. We look forward to supporting the researchers as their projects develop and deliver impact for those living with dementia affected by psychosis and Lewy Body Dementia.

“Alzheimer’s Society is passionately committed to supporting early career researchers as they build their careers in dementia research. Our funding, including this Clinical Training Partnership, will allow us to deepen our understanding of dementia, and use research to improve diagnosis and treatment, which will lead to future breakthroughs that will beat dementia.”

NHIP Academy is the training and career development arm of the Newcastle Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC).  The Academy aims to unlock career development opportunities for the next generation of health and care researchers – to ensure that clinical academics from a range of backgrounds can receive the bespoke support they need to become leading academics in their field.

Mentoring and support

Martin Dixon, Chief Operating Officer of the NIHR Newcastle BRC, said: “I am delighted that this award will support our goal of improving the diagnosis and personalised treatment of dementia while also expanding our capacity to deliver world-leading dementia research and clinical trials by recruiting and nurturing talented researchers in the field.

“The fellows will have access to the world-class infrastructure the BRC provides and are part of our strategy to establish the NIHR Newcastle BRC as a national centre of excellence, which is committed to the development of a skilled interdisciplinary academic workforce focused on tackling the increasing health and societal challenges of ageing and multiple long-term conditions in the UK.”

The Academy will be closely aligned with the fellows to ensure they receive mentoring and peer-to-peer support. This aims to help these clinical academics to make the transition from postdoctoral positions to research independence, and onwards towards international research leadership.

Dr Amy Brown, NHIP Academy Manager, added: “Clinical academic training in dementia is of the highest priority in Newcastle as evidenced by the NIHR Newcastle BRC theme in Dementia, mental health and neurodegeneration and the Dementia themed posts in Newcastle’s NIHR Integrated Academic Track programme which facilitates an integrated “pre-doctoral to PhD to postdoctoral” model in dementia.

“The expansion of the training offer that the Alzheimer’s Society Partnership brings is particularly exciting as it expands the opportunities at PhD level to support diverse professions which ensures that clinical academics from a range of backgrounds can receive the bespoke training, they need to become leading academics in their field.”