Lewy Body Dementia

Professor John-Paul Taylor

Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Training Centre for Lewy Body Dementia led by Professor John-Paul Taylor at Newcastle University.

Lewy body dementia is one of the most common forms of dementia and causes a wide range of troubling symptoms for people with dementia and their families. Currently, there are only limited treatments for symptoms of the condition, and there is a lack of research in Lewy body dementia compared with other types of dementias.

This Doctoral Training Centre will bring together the leading experts in Lewy body dementia research from around the UK to increase knowledge and understanding of the disease and improve the lives of people affected by it.

The 5 research priorities for this Doctoral Training Centre are:

• To improve understanding of the causes of Lewy body dementia;
• Develop better measures to track how the disease is progressing so the effect of treatments can be accurately monitored
• To improve diagnosis at the early stages of the disease
• Support better design for clinical research trials
• Tackle practical issues, for example, better rehabilitation after falls.

Professor John-Paul Taylor, lead researcher for the Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Training Centre for Lewy Body Dementia, recognises the importance of changing the future of Lewy body dementia research:

“Lewy body dementia, which includes both dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease dementia, is one of the most common causes of degenerative dementia and has huge impacts on people living with these conditions and their families. UK institutions are world leaders in Lewy body dementia research – yet research and funding for this specific disease lag behind other causes of dementia. This unique centre of research will help to bridge this gap and drive the field forward.”

For news, oppertunities and updates from the DTC head to our Alzheimer’s Society DTC Summary Page.