Worldwide, the number of people with dementia is projected to increase by more than 50% by 2050. Better understanding, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of dementia and associated neurodegenerative diseases is critical for improving the quality of life of ageing populations.

One of the primary challenges hindering breakthroughs in dementia treatments is the difficulty in recruiting a sufficiently large pool of volunteers for clinical studies. Often close to 80% of volunteer participants are excluded based on screening procedures.

With promising new treatments on the horizon for neurodegenerative conditions, it is crucial the UK improves the infrastructure for clinical trials to ensure people don’t miss out.

Programme overview

HDR UK and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI), with £20m funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC), are working together to increase the number of people participating in dementia clinical trials in the UK.

In 2021-22, just 61 people in the UK participated in dementia clinical trials. The Accelerator will develop new, digitally enabled methodologies to deliver clinical trials at scale in community settings across the UK, increasing the number of dementia trial participants to “tens of thousands”.

This focus on simplicity and accessibility will broaden opportunities for people at risk or with early-stage dementia to participate in clinical research. Input from patients themselves will be integral to ensure the widest possible access.

The initiative is supporting the government’s Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme (formerly known as the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission).

    1. Increasing trial recruitment: developing a biomarker minimum toolbox for screening.
    2. Accelerating low-cost, digitally enabled large-scale trials (scaling up: 100’s to 1,000’s participants), capitalising on existing UK cohorts and community-based infrastructure.
    3. Enabling collaborative research and trials via a secure UK-wide data platform: multi-dimensional FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and trustworthy data environments.
    4. Prioritising needs of industry innovators, patients, and the public through stakeholder design and dialogue.

  • The initiative aims to rapidly identify a large group of people who are at risk of or diagnosed with early-stage dementia. This will boost opportunities for these people to participate in research – offering them the chance to receive potentially life-changing new treatments as part of a clinical trial.

    The Accelerator will also speed up the development of new treatments for dementia by paving the way for faster, more efficient trials.