Our research strategy

The Alzheimer's Research Trust funds research that offers the best hope of finding ways to treat or prevent dementia. Here is a summary of our research strategy to 2011.

• The Alzheimer's Research Trust will continue to fund research which will further the understanding of the basic disease process in Alzheimer's and related dementias; that is directed towards early detection, the identification of risk factors and preventive measures; or which offers progress towards effective treatments.
• Not enough is yet known about dementia to prioritise specific areas. We do not commission or direct research funding, but issue an open call for proposals. We will continue to fund research based on the best individual projects put forward. All applications are encouraged bar those that outline work that is clearly carer-centred, as opposed to patient-centred.
• All applications will continue to be reviewed by the Alzheimer's Research Trust's extensive Scientific Advisory Board and where appropriate with help from our international Expert Referee Panel.
• We aim to be as non-bureaucratic and flexible as possible while following Association of Medical Research Charities guidelines for best practice. Funds are committed for up to five years and at a generous level to attract the best researchers and give them the most advantageous environment in which to work.
• We have a clear interest in clinical projects involving patients, but few are currently getting through the selection procedure since knowledge of dementia is insufficient for really significant clinical studies. We will examine why individual clinical projects fail and consider active improvement of these applications in the future.
• We will favour good translational research when it arises since a key aim is to convert the results of basic science into clinically available treatments.
• We will work with the Government's Dementias and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network when it is mutually beneficial within the Alzheimer's Research Trust Network, in the hope that this may improve the quality of clinical research training.
• Where fruitful, the Alzheimer's Research Trust will continue to work with other relevant organisations. For example, we have two collaborative projects with the Alzheimer's Society.
• We will continue to measure our success by research output (number of citations) in the short term, and by research outcomes (what happens as a result of the research) in the long term.

The Alzheimer's Research Trust cannot predict with any certainty where the next breakthrough will arise but we have a clear goal and some understanding of the areas most likely to be productive through regular consultation with our Scientific Advisory Board and Network.