Dementia Australia Research Foundation, Australia’s largest non-government funder of dementia research, today announced $3.7 million in research funding as part of the 2024 grant round.
The funding was awarded to 24 projects, including one exploring if viruses can be used to deliver critical genes to boost the brain’s defences against Alzheimer’s disease as well as improving the quality of eyecare for people living with dementia in residential aged care.
University of Wollongong researcher Dr Simon Maksour has been awarded the Race Against Dementia-Dementia Australia Research Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship worth over $700,000 over five years, for a project that aims to enhance the brain’s inbuilt defence mechanism against Alzheimer’s disease.
“In Alzheimer's disease, microglia, the brain’s immune cells, do not function normally and this contributes to disease progression,” Dr Maksour said.
“With this project we will use technology called adeno-associated virus vectors, to deliver crucial genes to abnormally functioning microglia to see if we can restore them to a healthy state opening up new avenues for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Monash University researcher at the National Centre for Healthy Ageing Dr Marianne Coleman received a Henry Brodaty Mid-Career Research Fellowship worth $400,000 to improve the quality of eye care provided to people living with dementia in residential aged care facilities.
“We know that people living in residential aged care are more likely to be living with untreated vision loss,” Dr Coleman said. “We also know that untreated vision loss is a risk factor for dementia as well as increasing the risk of falls or developing delirium”.
By working with experts in eye care and aged care, as well as with people with living experience of dementia, we will develop an eye care pathway and implementation plan to help residential aged care facilities deliver high quality eye care for everyone.”
Dementia Australia Research Foundation Chair Professor Graeme Samuel AC congratulated the 2024 grant recipients.
“There are an estimated 433,300 Australians living with dementia and it is increasingly being understood as the public health, disability and aged care challenge facing Australia,” Professor Samuel said.
“The diversity and range of projects selected, from those focused on supporting timely diagnosis and support, to research to improve the quality of care, shows we have a very exciting future for dementia research.”
Dementia Australia CEO Professor Tanya Buchanan said the Dementia Australia Research Foundation’s work wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of donors.
“All funding for Dementia Australia Research Foundation is donated by members of the public and by private and philanthropic organisations,” Professor Buchanan said.
The Dementia Australia Research Foundation acknowledges the generosity of donors who contribute each and every year to support dementia research and the grants program.
Since the Dementia Grants Program started in 2000, over $35 million in funding has supported more than 400 projects.
The Dementia Australia Research Foundation is the research arm of Dementia Australia, which provides funding to support new and emerging dementia researchers.
Dementia Australia is the source of trusted information, education and services for the estimated more than 433,000 Australians living with dementia, and the more than 1.7 million people involved in their care. We advocate for positive change and support vital research. We are here to support people impacted by dementia, and to enable them to live as well as possible. No matter how you are impacted by dementia or who you are, we are here for you.
For support, please contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500. An interpreter service is available. The National Dementia Helpline is funded by the Australian Government. People looking for information can also visit dementia.org.au
Race Against Dementia was established by world champion racing driver, Sir Jackie Stewart, OBE after his wife, Helen, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. The charity raises funds to support researchers across the globe to find cures for dementia. Along with funding their researchers receive training inspired by the high-performance mentality found in Formula 1. Race Against Dementia is an official charity partner of Formula 1.
Media contacts: David Gear, Media and Communications Advisor, 0435 515 221, david.gear@dementia.org.au
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Contact details:
Media contacts: David Gear, Media and Communications Advisor, 0435 515 221, david.gear@dementia.org.au
