Research programme focuses on early-detection and PREVENT-ion of dementia and Alzheimer’s

Posted on: 25 November 2024

The meeting provided the opportunity to learn about the PREVENT-Dementia study its research objectives and achievements.

This large multi-centre study brings together researchers from Trinity, led by GBHI faculty members Professor Lorina Naci and Professor Brian Lawlor, as well as Cambridge, Oxford, and Edinburgh universities, Imperial College London, and INSERM Neuroscience in France, and has the potential to enhance early detection, improve treatment, and ultimately prevent Alzheimer’s dementia

Professor Lorina Naci, PREVENT (above, third from right) Dublin co-lead said:

"We were delighted to host the General Assembly of the PREVENT-Dementia programme. This world-leading study is significantly advancing knowledge for identifying early individuals at high risk, understanding how and when to intervene to reduce risk, assisting with early diagnosis, knowing when treatments should best be given, and helping to develop novel treatments and interventions."

The beginnings of PREVENT

The Global Brain Health Institute supported the initiation of the study in Dublin/Ireland in 2017 with a project grant of €250,000 to Professors Lorina Naci and Brian Lawlor. Since then, Professor Naci has raised another €1,000,000 from competitive research funding to continue the PREVENT programme in Dublin. In 2024, Professor Naci received the HBR Individual Led Project award (€450,000) to continue this study to its  eighth year in Trinity College Dublin and St James’s Hospital.

Since its inception in 2014, with funding from the Alzheimer’s Society of the UK, The PREVENT dementia programme has raised significant funding for other studies focused on understanding the earliest manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease, including a study of amyloid and tau imaging, virtual reality assessments, eye, hearing and dental assessments and much more, from funders like the UK Medical Research Council, the US Alzheimer’s Association and industrial partners which equates to an additional £2.9 million.

What is PREVENT all about?

The PREVENT Dementia study seeks to identify the earliest signs of dementia, which may occur in the brain decades before symptoms appear. By predicting who is most at risk, the study aims to intervene early and prevent the disease from taking hold. With dementia cases expected to increase from 46.8 million in 2015 to 131.5 million by 2050, this research is critical. 

The early biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease that this study will develop will serve as essential prerequisites to future, population-wide early intervention programs, both pharmaceutical and environmental.

Collaborative research

PREVENT Dublin is a part of a large multi-site collaboration in the UK and Ireland. The PREVENT project has raised awareness around dementia detection and prevention in Ireland through generating and distributing knowledge on state-of-the-art Alzheimer’s detection in mid-life via published research. The project continues to build the PREVENT Dublin dataset by continually assessing established preclinical biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) in middle-aged persons at high risk of late-life AD, relative to persons at lower risk.

How does the research work in practice?

The PREVENT study has recruited and deeply phenotyped precisely and comprehensively analysed 700 participants aged 40-59 across the UK and Ireland. Core assessments include cognitive testing, neuropsychiatric evaluation, genetics, lifestyle risk factor analysis and multi-modal MRI Imaging, with samples of blood, urine, saliva and CSF collected. In Dublin, we are currently concluding our first set of follow-up assessments with plans for many years to come. Across the five sites of the study, more than 700 participants are taking part, with over 7,000 cognitive tests and 1400 MRI brain scans completed.

The PREVENT Dementia programme in Dublin provides an excellent research, training and education platform for Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health at GBHI (www.gbhi/prevent) 15 GBHI Atlantic Fellows are already working with PREVENT.

What does the PREVENT research tell us?

Our recent research indicates subtle changes in brain function or structure are detectable during middle adulthood — years before the first clinical signs of dementia become apparent. We believe that mid-life is a golden time to introduce interventions, including modifying of lifestyle factors, to help prevent the onset of dementia. But we need to identify  the earliest signals that mean that a person is at greater risk of developing dementia if we are to intervene at this stage. The PREVENT-Dementia research programme is identifying early biomarkers of the disease, before symptoms and brain damage occurs so that we can target these individuals early with interventions that may delay the onset of the condition.

PREVENT’s findings to date have been novel and had high impact, with over 40 publications (https://www.gbhi.org/projects/prevent-dublin, https://preventdementia.co.uk/).

PREVENT’s work has also directly led to expansion of the study into a professional rugby and football sports players head injury comparison group, which recently received almost £2 million funding from the English Football Association and FIFA.

• Tags:
• Health
• Research