CHeBA Funding Success to Transform ‘Preventable Dementia

In September, the National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) awarded Co-Director Professor Perminder Sachdev AM $3 million to lead a team of experts from eight universities and three research institutes to improve our understanding of vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia.

The grant will fund the establishment of the Vascular Contributions to Dementia Centre for Research Excellence, with a vision of reducing the overall health burden of vascular dementia.

“Cerebral vascular disease makes a contribution to 50 – 70% of all dementia cases, and in 15 – 20% of cases, it is the predominant cause,” Professor Sachdev said.

Research into vascular cognitive impairment and dementia has lagged behind that of Alzheimer’s disease research, and the development of this Centre seeks to remedy this.

The team of leading researchers will address the most critical questions relating to the diagnosis and epidemiology of vascular dementia and develop strategies for its prevention and treatment. “It will be the Australian hub of an international consortium of Centres that plan to make dementia prevention a reality,” Professor Sachdev said.

“Our new Centre hopes to place vascular dementia research at the forefront of dementia research, alongside that of Alzheimer’s disease, and meet the promise of vascular dementia as a truly preventable dementia.”

Professor Perminder Sachdev AM

Professor Perminder Sachdev AM