Neurodegeneration

Dementia and Parkinson’s disease are examples of degenerative disorders. Over 850,000 people live with dementia in the UK. 3-5 million people have early cognitive impairment and 140,000 people have Parkinson’s Disease. The human and economic burden of neurodegenerative disorders is huge, with dementia alone costing the UK economy more than £26 billion per year. The impact of these diseases will become even greater as the population of the UK ages, especially in the South West of England where our population is ageing faster than the national average.

Using novel genomic approaches and exciting new treatment targets identified by researchers in Exeter our research will discover new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, building on our existing work identifying treatments for other conditions that can also benefit people with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other dementias. We are already leading a number of exciting clinical trials to identify extisting medications that cen be repurposed to treat neurodegeneration.

Our research uses cutting-edge translational biomedical research and innovative clinical trials to identify and develop new treatments and approaches for treating neurodegenerative disease, helping to limit its impact in the coming decades. We are generating resources with far-reaching impact for testing new therapies, undertaking precision medicine trials to help high-risk groups, ensuring that people’s lived experience is at the heart of our programme.

Anyone over 50 in the UK can join PROTECT, our novel digital platform which allows us to conduct exciting trials using remote technologies and find better ways of identifying the earliest signs of cognitive impairment. Our scientists are also working on novel tests using cutting-edge genomics methods to improve the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and ways of making these tests more accessible to people in the community.

Our research will use cutting-edge translational biomedical research and innovative clinical trials to identify and develop new treatments and approaches for treating neurodegenerative disease, helping to limit its impact in the coming decades. We will generate resources with far-reaching impact for testing new therapies, undertaking precision medicine trials to help high-risk groups, ensuring that people’s lived experience is at the heart of our programme.

Click here to learn more about Neuroscience research involving our researchers.