Experimental medicine studies
Experimental medicine happens before drug testing, it is designed to test why a drug or compound produces a particular effect and understand which part of biological mechanisms cause success or failure.
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Pawel Markiewicz / DPUK
By investing in the UK's research technology, DPUK is changing experimental medicine. It is bringing together technology, expertise and volunteers to speed the development of new treatments. Experimental medicine is part of the early stage of drug discovery, with researchers conducting in-human tests. DPUK scientists are addressing the fundamental medical questions using experimental medicine in dementia research. They are investigating what promotes synaptic health and the role of vascular factors in dementia.
Developing treatments for neurodegenerative disease involves many different stages. Treating dementia means identifying undesirable changes that occur in cells and manufacturing compounds that counter these. Universities and industry each play important roles, bring expertise and resources together in the promise of more effective outcomes.
Studies in dementia are long and expensive, needing hundreds of patients and at least two years of study. DPUK is unique in creating bringing together academic research and industry to their pool their expertise.
Case studies
The New Therapeutics in Alzheimer's Disease study
The Deep and Frequent Phenotyping study
© Tony Thayanandan
DPUK's experimental medicine studies
© Anna Lukala
Big data coupled with cutting-edge imaging and stem cell technology are helping researchers identify the molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with dementia. This promises earlier diagnosis and treatment, before dementia irreversibly damages the brain. Researchers are now working to diagnose dementia early enough to disentangle how different forms of dementia start and progress.