Three teams of researchers – that include Dario Alessi and John Rouse – have received £16.99 million from the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council (MRC) to bolster research into devastating neurodegenerative diseases in a bid to develop better approaches for early diagnosis and therapeutic interventions for these diseases. The team that Dario is part of, led by researchers at University College London, aims to study the mechanisms underlying Parkinson's disease while John is part of a team, headed by King's College London, that will study the role of RNA binding proteins in frontotemporal dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and motor neuron disease. The collaborations bring together leading academic research teams from around the UK, from London, Bristol, Cambridge, Dundee, Manchester and Sheffield, as well as leading international groups and pharmaceutical companies.

Neurodegenerative diseases represent a significant burden on patients and carers, as well to wider society and the economy. As the elderly population increases worldwide, this burden is set to increase further. Although treatment options are already available for some conditions, these are generally of very limited effectiveness and treat the symptoms rather than preventing onset. The development of new therapeutic approaches is therefore essential. Alongside this, identifying markers to allow for the earliest possible diagnosis will maximise the effectiveness of preventative measures and optimise the use of current treatments.