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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/N034864/1
Title: Non-Invasive Imaging of Glymphatic Clearance: A Novel Strategy for the Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease
Principal Investigator: Lythgoe, Professor M
Other Investigators:
Thomas, Dr D
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
ELI Lilly and Company UCL
Department: Medicine
Organisation: UCL
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 November 2016 Ends: 31 January 2019 Value (£): 304,371
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Med.Instrument.Device& Equip.
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Healthcare
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
02 Jun 2016 Engineering Prioritisation Panel Meeting 1 and 2 June 2016 Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
Alzheimer's disease is a devastating illness that causes severe memory loss. Despite the huge social, economic and emotional burden of the condition, there is currently no cure. The development of effective treatments is hindered by the difficulty of accurately identifying the early phase of the disease, years before symptoms become apparent.

Recent evidence has come to light of a previously unrecognised waste removal system that clears excess fluid and toxins from the brain. It is thought that impairment of this pathway, known as the glymphatic system, may be a critical causal factor in the development of Alzheimer's disease. However, currently this pathway cannot be measured in humans.

We will develop the first non-invasive methods to image the glymphatic system using MRI, enabling assessment in the human brain for the first time. The new techniques will be carefully assessed by: i) comparison to existing invasive methods that require the injection of imaging agents into the fluid that surrounds the brain, ii) imaging mouse models of impaired glymphatic clearance and comparison with healthy mice.

Taken together, this proposal may lead to a new method for early detection of Alzheimer's disease and identify a new target for effective treatment.
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