New research funded in a race towards dementia prevention

Dr Adekunle Bademosi from the University of Queensland (UQ) and Dr Andrew McKinnon from the University of Sydney will each receive an award valued at $405,000 over three years to cover salary and project expenses.

The Race Against Dementia – Dementia Australia Research Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship programme aims to fund two early career researchers in the dementia prevention or treatment field.

Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, Race Against Dementia charity founder, Formula 1 racing driver, and Honourary International Dementia Australia Ambassador, says he is delighted to announce the recipients in partnership with DARF as a demonstration of Race Against Dementia’s commitment to funding research into dementia.

“Congratulations to Dr Bademosi and Dr McKinnon on being chosen from more than 40 high-quality applications,” says Sir Stewart.

“Race Against Dementia is building an international team of dementia scientists, who not only have their research funded but also benefit from developmental opportunities.

“My wife, Helen, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2014, and ever since then I have devoted my efforts globally to raise funds and stimulate breakthroughs and innovations in dementia research.

“I hope this award assists the recipients, and the research community more broadly, to apply a ‘Formula 1 attitude’ to work faster and smarter and continue to make breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of dementia.”

Dr Bademosi will be researching how and why frontotemporal dementia begins by using advanced imaging tools that have resolutions up to ten million times that of a standard digital camera. The results will then assist scientists in producing drugs that target this type of dementia.

Dr McKinnon’s research will be identifying the distinctive nature of sleep problems in older adults with early dementia or those at risk of dementia, in a bid to develop tools for clinicians to guide strategies for dementia management and prevention for individual patients.

Professor Graeme Samuel AC, Chair of DARF, congratulates the recipients for their commitment to dementia research. 

“With dementia affecting almost 50 million people worldwide and someone in the world developing dementia every three seconds, research into dementia is now more urgent than ever,” explains Professor Samuel.

“We are delighted to launch this joint fellowship with Race Against Dementia, powered by Sir Jackie’s vision and commitment to dementia research. 

“These fellowships form part of the Dementia Australia Research Foundation’s 2020 grant round, with more than $1.7 million in funding on offer for early-career researchers.

“This is an incredibly valuable initiative, and we are excited to be joining Race Against Dementia’s international network of early-career researchers. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of the research.”

The Postdoctoral Fellowships in Australia will become the third major Race Against Dementia fellowship programme alongside Alzheimer’s Research UK and The Mayo Clinic in the USA.

For more information about the research, head to the Dementia Australia Research Foundation website.