The funding from Alzheimer’s Research UK, the country’s leading charitable funder of dementia, has been awarded to Dr Jon Brown, a Pfizer research fellow in the University’s School of Physiology and Pharmacology, in the form of a prestigious senior research fellowship.
Dr Brown said: “There is a growing public awareness of the rapid escalation in the number of Alzheimer’s disease sufferers, and how this is set to become a major worldwide health issue over the course of the 21st century. There is clearly a pressing need for more research into all aspects of dementia.
“I am both delighted and honoured to be awarded this funding. It is important to me that every penny of the generous charitable donations this grant represents will be used effectively to enhance our understanding of this terrible disease, thereby contributing to the scientific community’s attempts to find the therapies of the future.”
This new grant follows soon after two other awards supporting Dr Brown’s investigations of Alzheimer’s disease, one from the Medical Research Council and the other from European Union funds.
Professor Andrew Randall, who has worked closely with Dr Brown on studies of Central Nervous System (CNS) function in dementia and other diseases of the central nervous system, added: “This is a fantastic achievement, it represents a well-deserved endorsement of his significant achievements as a young research leader in Bristol. As a member of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s scientific advisory panel I see at first hand the very strong competition for all of their grants, including these fellowships. It is certainly very encouraging to have witnessed a significant growth in dementia research and its funding at the University of Bristol in recent years, especially as this encompasses multiple groups within multiple faculties and locations.”