The Lewy Body Society has awarded almost £600,000 in research grants to universities across the UK in the largest-ever funding round for the charity. 

It brings the total LBS funding of Lewy body dementia research to £3.4 million over its 19-year history.

The Lewy Body Society receives no government funding, so the funds are entirely from voluntary donations and earned income.

Jacqui Cannon, Chief Executive of the Lewy Body Society said: “We are proud to be driving knowledge forward with the help of our ever-generous supporters without whom, we could not be making these big strides in understanding an underresourced and underresearched condition.

“We are excited about the possibilities of these four research projects and what they could mean in the future. Early and accurate diagnosis is one of the key priorities in our Lewy List. We are committed to supporting the search for causes of Lewy body dementia in the hope scientists can one day predict who might be at risk of developing the disease.”

The successful projects funded in this year’s round come from the Universities of Cambridge and Dundee, University College London and Queen’s University Belfast.

University of Cambridge

Dr Leonidas Chouliaras’s project using proteomics to differentiate dementia with Lewy bodies from Alzheimer’s disease and healthy controls was awarded £203,166 by the Lewy Body Society.

He said: “We are really excited to start this study, funded by the Lewy Body Society. This project will search for blood proteins that could be combined with existing blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease to support the early, accurate and specific diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies.”

University of Dundee

Dr David Koss is looking at DNA damage as a potential driver of Lewy body disease (£141,839). 

He said: “We are focused on understanding the mechanisms and consequences of elevated DNA damage in the brain which occurs as part of dementia with Lewy bodies. This is important as DNA contain the blueprints of cells, which are used to replace worn-out aged cell components, however if the blueprints are damaged, then these components can no longer be replaced. This failure in maintenance may be why some brain cells stop working and become faulty in Lewy body diseases. 

“The Lewy Body Society has been a strong supporter of this work, right from the beginning. I am thrilled that they are continuing to support our team as we dive deeper to understand the key consequences of this DNA damage and to potentially identify cellular targets for future therapies.”

University College London

Prof Rimona Weil (£167,346 award) is researching how cerebral small vessel disease contributes to Lewy body dementia.

Prof Weil said: “I am thrilled to be supported by the Lewy Body Society for this new project at University College London. Many people with Lewy body dementia have changes in the brain caused by blood vessel disease, called “small vessel disease”. Our aim is to understand how small vessel disease contributes to disease severity in people with Lewy body dementia.

“We will do this by measuring small vessel disease using MRI scans, and relating it to blood tests and thinking and memory scores. Our ultimate aim is to bring measures of small vessel disease into clinical practice for people with Lewy body dementia. This will mean that we can take steps to slow their disease, and to target the right treatments to the right patients.”

Queen’s University Belfast

Dr Joe Kane will be investigating the specificity and primary predictive value of the clinical diagnostic criteria for dementia with Lewy bodies (£82,275).

“We are very grateful to the LBS for generously providing the grant funding for our InSpecT-DLB project. This research will help us understand how the diagnostic criteria for dementia with Lewy bodies can sometimes lead to misdiagnosis. We think that this might help us find ways to make the criteria, and the diagnostic process, more accurate,” said Dr Kane.

Each grant application is considered by the Lewy Body Society’s independent Specialist Advisory Committee panel and award decisions are reviewed by independent experts and lay representatives.