Alzheimer’s Research UK is proud to have the support of the former Prime Minister, The Rt Hon David Cameron, as our President.
Mr Cameron joined Alzheimer’s Research UK as President in January 2017. As our foremost Ambassador, Mr Cameron is committed to championing the need for research to help us achieve our goal of bringing about life-changing treatments for dementia.
Since becoming President, Mr Cameron has helped Alzheimer’s Research UK raise nearly £20 million pounds for our research, as well as helping to open up new strategic research partnerships and collaborations.
Mr Cameron works closely with teams at Alzheimer’s Research UK to support our work, undertaking speaking engagements around the world, visiting some of our pioneering labs, and meeting supporters, fundraisers and people affected by dementia.
One of his key roles now is Chairing the Board of our Early Detection of Neurodegenerative Diseases Initiative – EDoN. This ambitious project is seeking to develop a digital tool to help detect the diseases that cause dementia years before the symptoms start.
Mr Cameron has long been a champion for the importance of earlier detection and helped kickstart the project by bringing together global experts in data science, digital technology and neurodegeneration. The EDoN Board now play a critical role in overseeing the project delivery and ensuring that the funding and plans are well delivered.
As President, Mr Cameron also undertakes a number of fundraising events and individual meetings with philanthropists in his role on behalf of the charity. This has culminated in some extraordinary contributions – and to recognise this and galvanise support of future philanthropic supporters, in 2018 we launched our prestigious Pioneers’ Circle under Mr Cameron’s leadership. The Pioneers’ Circle now has 25 members.
Mr Cameron’s programme of activities continues to develop as he helps to build on Alzheimer’s Research UK’s position as one the fastest growing medical research charities in the country.
"Dementia is one of the biggest challenges we face today – and it is one that we as a society simply cannot afford to ignore any longer."
- Rt Hon David Cameron, President of Alzheimer's Research UK
Championing Dementia
Mr Cameron’s commitment to dementia while in office as Prime Minister made huge strides in raising awareness of dementia and delivering much needed funding for research. We are delighted he is continuing his personal mission against dementia as President of Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Mr Cameron comes to the role with a strong legacy around dementia research. In 2012, as Prime Minister, he launched the Dementia Challenge – an unprecedented programme of action to deliver sustained improvements in health and care, create dementia friendly communities, and boost dementia research. Writing at the time, Mr Cameron said that “dementia is one of the biggest challenges we face today – and it is one that we as a society simply cannot afford to ignore any longer.”
Following this, in 2015 he published the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 to build on the Government’s work and set clear and ambitious goals for the coming years, including to deliver a disease-modifying treatment for dementia by 2025. Alzheimer’s Research UK fully supported these goals and remains at the forefront of global efforts to deliver new treatments, working closely with Mr Cameron to deliver our strategy.
The President of Alzheimer’s Research UK is an unpaid voluntary position, and we are very grateful to Mr Cameron for his time and support.
