Wellcome Trust Gives Nearly $4 Million for Alzheimer’s/Down Syndrome Research

Wellcome TrustThe Wellcome Trust has awarded the London Down Syndrome Consortium with 2.5 million pounds (nearly $4 million) for a Strategic Award to understand the processes involved in Alzheimer’s disease that often occurs as people with Down syndrome age.

Dr. André Strydom, the Principal Applicant from University College London, said: “This project brings together researchers from different disciplines to tackle the cognitive problems associated with Down Syndrome. We want to understand why people with Down Syndrome are much more likely than the general population to develop Alzheimer’s disease (dementia), and we will also look for markers that can identify those who go on to develop dementia before they present with problems.”

The project, which will be a five-year study starting in December, involves research by leading geneticists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists who will be working closely with the Down’s Syndrome Association and the Down’s Syndrome All Party Parliamentary Interest Group. The project also includes North American and European collaborators to ensure the research is standardized for international programs.

The ties between Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome are getting fresh attention around the globe.

In the United States, the Global Down Syndrome Foundation and the Alzheimer’s Association hosted the first-ever scientific workshop to bring together researchers from both fields to plot how the two conditions can be studied together.

And the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, the first academic home for Down syndrome research in the U.S. and a major source of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation’s support, recently hired renowned Alzheimer’s researcher Dr. Huntington Potter.

To read more about the Wellcome Trust’s research award, click here.

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving improvements in health by supporting the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities.

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