Southampton joins new £50m national dementia research network

Dementia researchers in Southampton are joining a national network to accelerate the development of new treatments.

University Hospital Southampton (UHS) will be part of the NIHR Dementia Translational Research Collaboration Trials Network (D-TRC-TN). This is a coordinated network of dementia trials sites across the UK.

The Government announced nearly £50m of new funding for the initiative at the start of this year. It aims to build capacity and expertise, so that more people with dementia can take part in research.

The UHS dementia research team, led by Professor Chris Kipps, has now been selected as a new site.

Growing our dementia research

As part of the network, the team will receive funding and support over five years to increase the number of trials that people with dementia can take part in at Southampton.

This will enable them to boost the team’s capacity and expertise, so they can offer more people the opportunity to take part in early phase dementia trials.

It will also support improvements in the regulatory processes needed to conduct dementia trials, new partnerships with industry, and enhanced recruitment methods.

‘Fantastic achievement’

The Trials Network is hosted and coordinated by University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). It is run in partnership with the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission.

Prof Kipps, Consultant Neurologist and Clinical Director of Research & Development at UHS, leads Southampton’s involvement in the trial. He is also Professor of Clinical Neurology and Dementia at University of Southampton.

He said: “This is a fantastic achievement that recognises UHS as a significant centre for dementia research.

“It gives us an incredible opportunity to grow and develop our research here at UHS, so we can offer more people living in and around Southampton the chance to take part in dementia trials.”

Members of the public can take part in dementia research through the NIHR's Join Dementia Research or Be Part of Research services.