Dementias Platform UK

07/05/2026

Help us to understand public and patient views about new blood tests for dementia and other memory problems. Complete our online survey and tell us your attitude to taking such a test as well as the factors influencing a decision.
Take the test: https://zurl.co/3vSxJ

University of Cambridge New blood tests could transform how dementia is diagnosed — making it faster, simpler, and more accessible. We want to understand how people feel about these tests and what matters when deciding whether to take one. TAKE PART IN THE SURVEY! About this project This survey is...

16/04/2026

Our READ-OUT study is helping to shape how the NHS can use blood biomarkers to increase the number of people getting an accurate dementia diagnosis. It's part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge, a multi-million pound initiative led by Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK.

13/03/2026

It's great to have Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust starting to recruit participants in our -OUT study - helping to bring effective early diagnosis of dementia to more people in the NHS 🔗READ MORE - https://zurl.co/KslRc

A groundbreaking trial exploring the potential of blood tests to diagnose...

02/02/2026

Here's a really useful guide to dementia published in the Daily Mail on Saturday. It is in conjunction with the Alzheimer's Society.

Read Prof Vanessa Raymont's excellent guide to early signs of dementia which are so important to getting an early diagnosis and managing the disease. She is one of our leading scientists at DPUK. Her READ-OUT programme is trying to find the most effective tests the NHS can adopt to make it easier for everyone to get a diagnosis.
https://zurl.co/BWukH

Gill Livingston, a professor of psychiatry of older people at University College London says: 'Alcohol is a toxin that can affect memory and raise your dementia risk.'

28/01/2026

On World Lewy Body Dementia Day, we are celebrating the work of our Neuroimmunology team, led by Professor John O'Brien at Cambridge University. They are driven to better understanding the disease itself and ways to better manage it. Sadly, it is often misdiagnosed, and research is needed to help clinicians to manage it and its unique characteristics.

Our scientists are exploring inflammatory and immune changes in people with early dementia with Lewy bodies and early Alzheimer’s disease. Their IMPRINT study, using blood samples and CSF, has recruited over 200 participants and completed 18-month follow-ups for nearly 100 people. A second study, IMPACT, is using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to investigate the role of brain inflammation in Dementia with Lewy bodies. https://zurl.co/EhBs5

22/01/2026

The latest biomarker study to translate promising studies into real-world validated tests to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease was announced this week. It aims to help identify blood or digital tests that could help predict the presence of amyloid plaques or tau tangles in the brain, which are the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.

It is hoped that a simple finger-prick test could be enough to diagnose Alzheimer’s with sufficient accuracy for clinicians to use routinely. The study, led in the UK by Life Arc will involve 1,000 volunteers aged over 60 in the UK, US and Canada.

The new study reflects the growing excitement about the use of blood biomarkers in diagnosis to achieve diagnosis at scale and reduce the cost and time taken for patient testing.

Professor Vanessa Raymont is leading Dementia Platform UK’s own blood biomarker study, READ-OUT. She welcomes the latest new trial.

“This study is an exciting opportunity for the comparison of very accessible markers with more validated markers such as PET imaging. This will definitely help us understand whether the blood biomarkers that look promising really do measure aspects of Alzheimer's disease in real world populations. It will add vital data alongside the Blood Biomarker Challenge funded READ-OUT study, which is looking at these, plus additional blood biomarkers in a UK memory clinic population.”

READ-OUT also focuses on easy-to-do tests, but for a range of dementias including Alzheimer’s, vascular, dementia with Lewy bodies, and frontotemporal dementia. It involves 3,200 participants as part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge funded through the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK including funding from players of the People’s Postcode Lottery. It will assess the best ways of obtaining samples and could lead to the health service using a number of tests taken from a blood sample alongside digital tests of cognition.
https://zurl.co/FvTvg

An international trial involving 1,000 volunteers will aim to detect biomarkers associated with the condition.

20/01/2026

Help DPUK's -Cog study? It's testing 2 treatments for & in people with memory problems caused by damaged blood vessels in the . Access the survey at , the PPIE site https://zurl.co/17YET. Anyone can complete it.

20/01/2026

Can you help DPUK's -Cog study by offering your comments on aspects of their planned trials?

The team at of Edinburgh is testing 2 treatments for vascular cognitive impairment and dementia in a group of people with memory problems caused by damaged blood vessels in the brain.

Access the questionnaire at the excellent PPIE site https://zurl.co/J7hwP.
(It's for anyone interested including family, friends, professionals or people affected personally by MCI or dementia).

You will help to shape the study ahead of its recruitment of participants for the trial itself. That is being done through 20 selected memory clinics around the UK.

LACI-Cog, ( Lacunar Intervention Trial – Cognition) will involve 300 people testing medicines that have previously been used in a study in stroke patients. and seem to be safe with few side effects.

LACI-Cog will be a clinical trial to test new treatments for adults with early or mild memory problems due to damaged blood vessels in the brain (called ‘vascular cognitive impairment’ or ‘vascular dementia’). These people will be invited to join the trial from memory clinics around ...

13/01/2026

We are looking for people to take a short survey online to find the best approach to supporting people taking an APOE4 test. You don't need to have a diagnosis. You could be a carer or work in research or the NHS. Read about the survey here: https://zurl.co/b104k

24/12/2025

🧠 Great Minds membership exceeds 13,500!
Our Great Minds Register now has over 13,500 highly characterised individuals available to join health studies and help researchers find answers.
This incredible community of volunteers is accelerating dementia research by:
🔬 Participating in clinical trials
📊 Contributing to observational studies
💡 Helping test new interventions
🎯 Making research more efficient and impactful
Every person who joins Great Minds brings us closer to breakthroughs in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Ready to make a difference? Join Great Minds today: https://zurl.co/wRfeO

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