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UKDP: Integrated DEmentiA research environment (IDEA)
Note: The UK Dementias Platform (UKDP) is a radically new approach to dementias research. It brings together data from around 2,000,000 study participants from 22 cohorts to try and discover the causes of dementia and to find out ways of slowing it down. The platform has been funded to the level of £12M. In this proposal we want to improve UK infrastructure for dementia research so that the most can be made of the opportunity provided by UKDP. We wan to improve the infrastructure by buying important pieces of equipment that will put the UK at the forefront of dementia research worldwide and by establishing networks of scientists who will work together to make best use of the equipment. The three themes of the proposal are imaging, informatics and stem cells. For imaging we want to establish a network of PET/MR scanning facilities across the UK so that the molecular processes going on inside the brain that cause dementia can be studied. For informatics we want to be bring together bas many different types of data as possible and make it easy as possible for scientists to use them For stem cells we want to take cells form adults with and without dementia to find out how cells change as the dementias process begins and progresses. We believe these proposals will raise standards, reduce costs, and deliver innovative and coordinated research, making the UK an internationally unique place to study dementia. Technical Summary Our objective is to achieve a step-change in UK dementia research capacity through establishing national networks of existing and emerging centres of excellence in imaging, informatics and cell-biology. The UK Dementias Platform (UKDP) is a radically new approach to dementias research, providing a highly efficient and cost-effective translational pipeline from discovery through to early phase trials. UKDP will create closer synergy between epidemiology and experimental medicine with the re-purposing of epidemiologic cohorts for trials readiness. The size and depth of phenotyping available to UKDP will deliver a step-change in the complexity and granularity of dementia related hypothesis testing and accelerate compound development. Proposed here is an infrastructure of investment and collaboration. Underpinning UKDP is a critical mass of researchers and resources that will work together to encourage, facilitate, and develop a fully integrated dementia dedicated UK research environment. This will raise standards, reduce costs, and deliver innovative and coordinated research, to make the UK an internationally unique research environment. Through its partnership with major academic centres and industry, UKDP is well positioned to achieve this goal. Building on the recent MRC investment in UKDP, we propose here to renew and extend the UKDP integrative research environment with an advanced molecular imaging network strategically located to exploit UKDP cohorts. Also proposed is an integrated informatics environment to facilitate the location of and access to both data and bio-samples. The third proposal is for a stem-cells network to promote the use of this important and emerging technology. Each of these elements adds value to existing infrastructure investments and fills significant gaps in the UK research landscape.
| Grant period | 2015-03-31 - 2015-08-13 |
| Funding body | Medical Research Council |
| Grant number | grant.4107062 |
| Identifier | G:(Dimensions)grant.4107062 |
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Record created 2021-07-01, last modified 2021-09-24