Dementias Platform UK Stem Cell Partnership

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A major hurdle to developing new treatments for dementias and other neurodegenerative disorders is the practical and ethical barriers to undertaking brain research in people. However, it is now possible to turn cells from skin biopsies or blood samples into stem cells, which can be grown in a dish in the lab. In turn, the stem cells can be differentiated into any cell type, including brain cells. This allows study of the cell processes affected in dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases in human cells, and has potential in identifying and testing new therapies.This proposal brings together six UK stem cell Centres recently supported by the MRC Dementias Platform UK (Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester, Oxford and University College London). This Dementia Stem Cell Network will provide a step change in UK dementia stem cell research and feed into drug discovery initiatives to find novel dementia treatments. Our proposed Partnership will significantly increase the capacity, competitiveness and effective use of resources of UK dementia stem cell research by helping us work together as a coordinated stem cell network.The technology involved in producing brain cells from stem cells is relatively new and evolving at a rapid pace. The Partnership will create a unique, deeply studied collection of cells donated by volunteers with dementia, plus from healthy individuals to compare them against. These cells can be grown in the lab indefinitely, and will form a global and powerful stem cell research resource. Critically, the Partnership will develop and validate protocols that will be harmonised across the network. In this way we can work together using state-of-the-art automated and large-scale technology to understand the biology of dementia. Our goal is to find new markers and develop robust tests for dementia that will accelerate the search for new drug treatments by pharmaceutical companies.This proposal will deliver this programme of research and resources by appointing and training four highly skilled Network Technical Scientists. Each will be dedicated to specific scientific techniques and goals, but share expertise and findings across the Partnership and beyond. The Partnership will also produce a training programme for PhD students, who will work across at least two Centres to address important questions about dementia/neurodegenerative disease. These two programmes will future-proof the Dementia Stem Cell Network and MRC investment by equipping the UK with researchers highly skilled in stem cell technologies who will participate in multi-site interdisciplinary research. Through the Network Technical Scientists and PhD students, we will reach out to other researchers in the UK with regular meetings to involve new sites in this collaborative venture.In summary, the Partnership will create unique shared resources and expertise to drive joined-up UK-wide dementia research with the goal of identifying new disease modifying treatments.