Our strategic initiatives and partnerships

Brains for Dementia Research (BDR) is a joint initiative between Alzheimer’s Research UK and Alzheimer’s Society. BDR provides high quality human brain tissue, clinical and neuropathological data, and stem cells to the dementia research community. 

The aim of Join Dementia Research (JDR), established by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Research with support from Alzheimer’s Research UK and Alzheimer’s Society, is to improve the timeliness of study recruitment for researchers, and provide a service to thousands of potential volunteers who want to be involved in research. 

Find out more about how you can get involved in research.

We are founding members of the Dementia Consortium, a £9.5million global partnership between Alzheimer’s Research UK, Evotec and the pharmaceutical companies, Abbvie, Astex, Eisai, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly and MSD. The aim is to close the gap between academic research and the pharmaceutical industry’s drug-discovery pipeline.  

Race Against Dementia (RAD) is a charity founded by Sir Jackie Stewart to find a breakthrough in the prevention or treatment of dementia. We have partnered with the charity to offer Race Against Dementia Fellowships that are designed to power outstanding early career scientists in their pursuit of innovative solutions to the big questions in dementia research.  

Dementia Researcher is an international service for early career dementia researchers, supported by funding from Alzheimer’s Research UK, Alzheimer’s Society, and the National Institute for Health & Care Research. Alzheimer’s Research UK works closely with the platform through blogs, podcasts, and webinars to provide support to early career researchers.

We have partnered with RNID to co-fund research that will increase our understanding of the common biological mechanisms underlying hearing loss and dementia. The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) is a charity which funds research into new treatments for hearing loss and tinnitus. They also provide support for deaf people and people with hearing loss or tinnitus, and campaign for an inclusive society.   

We are partnering with BIRAX (Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership) to fund collaborative research between UK and Israel. BIRAX is a multi-million-pound initiative of the British Council and the British Embassy in Israel together with the Pears Foundation, investing in world-leading research jointly undertaken by scientists in the UK and Israel. 

We are co-funders of the BAND programme with Alzheimer’s Association, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and the Weston Brain Institute. The main objective of the programme is to stimulate analyses across Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and other neurodegenerative diseases to increase understanding of pathogenesis similarities and differences.  

The Association of British Neurologists' mission is to improve the health and well-being of people with neurological disorders by advancing the knowledge and practice of neurology in the British Isles. We partnered with the ABN to offer 3-year clinical research training fellowships in neurodegenerative disorders. 

The British Neuroscience Association is the largest UK organisation representing and promoting neuroscience and neuroscientists. Through this partnership, we are supporting the BNA Scholars Programme, which supports students from underrepresented ethnic groups to thrive in neuroscience.  

We are part of this group of more than 50 dementia research funding bodies, alongside US-based National Institute for Ageing and the Alzheimer’s Association. The Consortium comes together to identify areas of common interest and gaps in knowledge and innovation, so that we can bridge these gaps through collaboration. This is an excellent opportunity for us to help shape the global research landscape and ensure that vital efforts aren’t being duplicated.