The Race Against Dementia Teams programme is our £4.2 million initiative, fuelling the race against one of the world’s most devastating conditions.
In partnership with Rosetrees, we are empowering six exceptional UK research teams with grants of up to £750,000. These teams are pioneering disruptive approaches and fresh ideas in the urgent race to prevent and cure dementia.
Team FTD (frontotemporal dementia) based at the University of Cambridge, will run a trial to test new treatments for FTD, primary progressive aphasia, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal syndrome.
These incurable brain diseases have different root causes but share some distressing symptoms. Behavioural change, impulsivity, personality change, apathy and obsessional habits can be experienced by people living with these illnesses. These challenging behaviours have no proven effective treatments, cause considerable distress to individuals and their families and are associated with poor survival. Team FTD is on a mission to find effective treatments for frontotemporal dementia.
Targeting symptoms in FTD
FTD and related disorders are often left out of clinical trials due to their diverse subtypes, diagnostic challenges, rapid progression and limited funding. Team FTD will address this critical gap by including people with FTD and related illnesses in a trial testing the effect of a drug on the most difficult symptoms.
Other brain diseases have been successfully treated by restoring low levels of chemical messengers in the brain. In FTD, previous research has uncovered a possible link between challenging behaviours and low levels of the chemical messenger, serotonin, in the brain. Serotonin is commonly known to regulate mood but also influences impulsivity and flexibility of thinking, unrelated to our mood.
Team FTD have used this knowledge to identify a drug candidate that influences serotonin levels in the brain.
Accelerating dementia treatment with drug repurposing
Team FTD will bypass the long, risky and expensive route of developing a new drug by repurposing an existing drug – citalopram. Citalopram is widely used, has few side effects and is an effective treatment for depression and anxiety. If successful, the use of citalopram could be quickly implemented in clinical practice, bringing hope to families across the UK and beyond. Through repurposing a drug already on the market, the speed that it could be made available to patients will be accelerated, delivering results sooner than otherwise possible.
A new approach to clinical trials
Team FTD’s trial has a bold new design. Rather than focusing on a single diagnosis, they will include people with different diseases who still share symptoms. This innovative design is called a “basket trial”. This approach will help address the challenge of complex, overlapping but varying symptoms that traditional clinical trials have struggled to overcome. If successful, this could be used to test other treatments, opening a door to future breakthroughs.
Why this work is innovative
Team FTD’s innovative basket design not only makes the trial more inclusive, but it also holds the potential to revolutionize how treatments are tested for complex neurological conditions. The team’s commitment to repurposing medicines means that the impact may be felt quickly.
By focusing on immediate symptomatic relief, the team aims to bring real change to the lives of people living with these distressing behaviours. This could provide a crucial stepping-stone toward better long-term treatments for FTD and related disorders.
What the experts are saying
“Could be life-changing for patients and families“
The Scientific Panel from the Race Against Dementia Rosetrees Teams selection process praised the trial’s cutting-edge design and the exceptional statistical analysis. Although the drug being tested may not cure the disease, the panel highlighted the trial’s potential to provide critical symptomatic relief ‘could be life-changing for patients and families.’ The panel also commended the team for building a strong network of researchers led by Dr. Alexander Murley – an emerging leader in dementia research. They have a cross-disciplinary group of co-investigators, including Dr. Maura Malpetti, Prof. James Rowe, Dr. Negin Holland, Dr. Pavel Mozgunov, Prof. Rob Howard and people with lived experience of the conditions being treated. Team FTD is well-positioned to make a lasting impact.
