Dementias Platform UK (DPUK) was established to enhance research into dementia, so we find effective treatment sooner. DPUK was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) to facilitate and accelerate the discovery of new ways to understand, diagnose, and treat dementia. It is a public-private partnership that offers facilitated access to detailed information for over 3 million individuals, from 47 long-term studies of health, known as 'cohort' studies. By joining data from all these studies, DPUK provides an integrated and collaborative environment, bringing together scientists from academia and industry to share knowledge and conduct joint research programmes. It is a foundation for new ways of working with academia, industry, regulators, health care providers, patients and the public. |
A single, secure data repository
By bringing data from multiple cohorts into a single, secure, environment – the DPUK Data Portal – the need to transfer increasingly large and complex data files between research groups is greatly reduced.
By maintaining these data in an environment operating to the highest data protection standards, cohort participants and researchers can be reassured that the data are managed securely and responsibly; maintaining privacy whilst maximising scientific value.
Accelerating the discovery of new treatments
The large number of individuals in our cohorts allows key research questions to be answered more rigorously and more rapidly than would otherwise be possible.
To make the best use of these data resources, DPUK has established a number of collaborative initiatives with universities across the UK to enable discovery and testing of new disease concepts, diagnostics or potential treatments.
Technology networks
DPUK technology networks promote a new generation of medical experiments targeting specific mechanisms through shared state-of-the art technologies and streamlined procedures.
- Our five-centre Informatics network provides coordinated digital data collection, curation, storage, and access management for all major data modalities and for all study designs.
- Our seven-centre Imaging network enables high quality molecular and structural brain imaging studies to be conducted throughout the UK in multicentre studies.
- Our six-centre Stem cell network provides high throughput production of the brain cell types essential to the identification of the mechanisms underlying dementia.
Experimental medicine
The DPUK research communities bring together academic and industry experts to increase the number of scientists and organisations conducting innovative experimental studies and robust clinical trials in dementia.
Great Minds - our clinical studies register
Great Minds will enable better recruitment to dementia studies. DPUK cohort members are highly valuable to clinical studies, owing to the detailed information that is already available on their lifestyle, medical history, genetics, and more. By inviting members of cohorts to make themselves available for dementia research, DPUK will enable a new generation of highly informative clinical studies.
Strategic partnerships
The challenges posed by the dementias are complex. Addressing them will demand a response that is coordinated and sustained over the long-term. It will demand 'cross-fertilisation' with new ideas from multiple disciplines.
DPUK combines the creativity of the best researchers from both academia and industry with the R&D skills and knowledge of world-leading pharmaceuticals companies in strategic partnership initiatives. We bring together the people who have the power to tackle dementia: those who have generously given their time to be studied as part of a cohort, and those who dedicate their life to researching the disease.
The platform makes the most of their expertise, creating new tools and resources to deliver research to accelerate pathways for future medicines. Through this effort, we also facilitate training for new scientists to better ensure future growth in our understanding of the dementias. DPUK is supporting scientists across the world to generate the new knowledge needed to help people live longer, cognitively healthier lives.
Our university and industry partners have expertise in many different fields, all critical to our mission to maximise the value of long-term health studies in the development of new treatments.
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DPUK scientists in AstraZeneca are collaborators on the NTAD study, a large study using MEG scans of the brain in the search for the earliest signs of dementia. |
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DPUK scientists in Cambridge are working on a number of different areas including synaptic health, statistical methods, and wider ethical issues surrounding DPUK's work. |
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DPUK scientists in Cardiff have developed the Genetics platform – a suite of data discovery tools for researchers looking to work with complex genetic data in their research. |
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DPUK scientists in Edinburgh contribute expertise in cognitive assessment, an important diagnostic tool for dementia. The team in Edinburgh have developed a new battery of tests in the UK's largest long-term health study. Edinburgh teams are also working on electronic health records and vascular elements to dementia. |
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DPUK scientists in Manchester are developing the DPUK wearables platform – technology which will allow researchers to make use of the important information collected by devices such as smart watches. Work to harmonise DPUK's MR-PET scanner network also takes place in Manchester. |
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DPUK scientists in Araclon Biotech are collaborators in our work in biomarker development for dementia. |
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IXICO scientists provide expertise in the development and management of platforms for MRI and MEG data in the Deep and Frequent Phenotyping study. |
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DPUK scientists in Janssen are collaborators on the NTAD study, a large study using MEG scans of the brain in the search for the earliest signs of dementia. |
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DPUK scientists in Newcastle are investigating whether the characteristics of how people walk can be a useful early warning sign of Alzheimer's disease. Read the news story. |
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Scientists in Somalogic have developed the SOMAscan technology which is being used in DPUK's work in biomarker development. |
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The DPUK team in Swansea has developed the Data Portal – a groundbreaking new resource of rich data for the research community. |
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Research scientists with stem cell expertise and resources in GSK are collaborating with university-based researchers in the DPUK Stem cells network. |
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DPUK scientists at Imperial College London contribute expertise in brain scanning and form part of the DPUK Imaging network. |
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DPUK scientists at Kings College London have assessed and developed recommendations for best practice in brain donation – a key area for dementia research. Other teams are investigating the role of heart health in dementia. |
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DPUK scientists in Oxford lead many aspects of the Deep and Frequent Phenotyping study, including the investigation of cellular features of the disease development. Work to conduct repeat brain scans on a segment of the UK Biobank study is also led from Oxford. |
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DPUK scientists in UCL work with the small, specialist studies of the cases of familial dementia. Other teams are working with the 'Insight 1946' study, conducting repeat advanced brain scans on a segment of this important group of people. |
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Scientists in Invicro bring expertise in brain imaging to the DPUK partnership. |
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Scientists in Cambridge Cognition contribute expertise in cloud-based cognitive testing to the DPUK partnership. |
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Exeter is an important research site for the multicentre Deep and Frequent Phenotyping study. |
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Cognetivity's cognitive testing software is offered to DPUK cohort studies to enhance the data they collect. |
Dementias Platform UK (DPUK) is a multi-million pound public-private partnership which launched in 2014. DPUK is directed by Professor John Gallacher (University of Oxford) and is supported by an executive team of ten other representatives from our academic and industry partners.
© Ben Higgins
Our governance structure
A steering group of 20 senior scientists, many of whom lead projects across the platform, influence the scientific direction of the project by making recommendations to the executive team.
The Company Partner Forum (CPF) is made up of representatives from each of DPUK's industry partners. Together they apply their longstanding industry experience, advising on the development of DPUK resources so they meet the needs of those who are developing treatments.
The director and executive team, in turn, report to an MRC-appointed Oversight Board twice a year. The board oversees DPUK activity and advises on opportunities or changes for the project. Its members are UK and international experts in the field of dementia.
DPUK is supported by four international advisors, all experts in the field of dementia and neurodegenerative disease.
Our funding
Dementias Platform UK has received £53 million from the UK Medical Research Council. Each of our industry partners also makes a contribution – financial or in-kind – to enable our work. The amount of additional funding for dementia research that we have attracted can be seen in the table below.
£ m |
Funder and project |
Principal Investigator |
University |
Funding type |
---|---|---|---|---|
16 |
MRC-industry core funding |
John Gallacher |
Cardiff |
Core |
37 |
MRC clinical research infrastructure: |
Paul Matthews |
Imperial College London, Oxford Oxford |
Core |
1 |
MRC: Imaging partnership |
Karl Herholz |
Manchester |
Supported |
1 |
MRC: Stem Cells partnership |
Siddharthan Chandran |
Edinburgh |
Supported |
0.3 |
Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK): Imaging |
David Thomas |
University College London |
Supported |
2 |
Stroke Association: Vascular Risk |
Joanna Wardlaw |
Edinburgh |
Supported |
0.5 |
Janssen and Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK): Synaptic Health |
James Rowe |
Cambridge |
Supported |
60 |
Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI): European Prevention of Alzheimer's Dementia Consortium (EPAD) |
Craig Ritchie |
Edinburgh |
Enabled |
7 |
MRC National Institute for Health Research (NIHR): Deep and Frequent Phenotyping |
Simon Lovestone |
Oxford |
Enabled |
3.4 |
Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI): Real World Outcomes Across the Alzheimer's Disease Spectrum (ROADS) |
John Gallacher |
Oxford |
Enabled |
1.1 |
MRC: UK7T partnership |
James Rowe |
Cambridge |
Enabled |
7 |
MRC clinical research infrastructure: UK7T |
James Rowe |
Cambridge |
Enabled |
0.1 |
MRC: Korea |
Chi-Hun Kim |
Oxford |
Enabled |
Research income generated: £83.4 m (157% of core funding)
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Annual report 2017
Our annual review details DPUK's key progress and achievements in our fourth year.