Dementia research funding must translate into better therapies for patients, says RSC chief

The chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry today welcomed the announcement that dementia research funding is set to rise to £66m by 2015.

Dr Robert Parker said it was an opportunity the UK must seize to become a world leader in a disease that will only become more common in an ageing society. Despite this pressing need, the downsizing of 'Big Pharma' in the UK has resulted in many companies withdrawing from neuroscience research.

He added: "We need to ensure the funding announced today includes support for expert medicinal chemistry, working alongside disease experts and clinicians, to translate advances in biomedical research into new, safe and effective therapies that provide benefit to patients."

Professor Chris Dobson, from the University of Cambridge, described age-related diseases as "a ticking time-bomb" on society in a public lecture two years ago at the RSC's Chemistry Centre.