We are delighted to announce that the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit has received Grand Challenge Award funding from the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) for a multi-year research partnership designed to advance the understanding of early changes to the operations of brain circuits in Alzheimer’s disease.

The UK DRI Grand Challenge Award will support a collaboration between the Dupret Group at the MRC Unit and researchers based at University College London, and will be led by UK DRI Group Leader Dr. Marc Aurel Busche. The team will work together to develop a biomarker for Alzheimer’s that can be used to identify and monitor early signs of the disease. The MRC Unit will leverage its leading expertise in the electrophysiological interrogation of brain functions underlying memory, focusing on state-of-the-art mouse models of Alzheimer’s. The Award will also support parallel studies in human research participants at the UK DRI, offering a valuable opportunity for cross-species translation of research discoveries.

Professor David Dupret, who will lead the Unit’s contribution to the collaborative programme, commented: “The work funded by this award will tackle a genuinely grand challenge in dementia research, that is, the development and validation of a functional circuit-based biomarker for Alzheimer’s. It is an exciting opportunity for our researchers to team up with colleagues in London and use complementary approaches to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying memory in both animal models and humans. We look forward to working with our partners as we pursue our shared goal of meeting this grand challenge.”

Unit Director Professor Peter Magill commented “We are delighted for David and his collaborators. This Grand Challenge Award is the first substantial investment of the UK DRI in the Unit’s research. It not only reflects David’s leading position in his field, but also the Unit’s distinctive contributions to the national ecosystem supporting research and innovation in neurodegenerative diseases. It is an excellent fit to the Unit’s wider strategy fostering both fundamental and translational neuroscience research across species.”

You can read more about this Grand Challenge Award on the UK DRI website.