Research
Aducanumab
Aducanumab is a drug that has been used in clinical trials to treat early-stage Alzheimer's disease. The license for Aducanumab as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease has recently been approved in the USA (7th June 2021). Unlike existing drugs used to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, Aducanumab is a disease-modifying treatment, meaning that it targets the cause of Alzheimer's disease, namely a build up of abnormal proteins in the brain. Dr Cath Mummery leads the clinical trials team at the DRC, based at the National Hospital for Neurology where Aducanumab has been trialled.
Further resources
- For more information about Aducanumab, please see our news story here.
- To see Dr Cath Mummery discussing Aducanumab on BBC News, please click here.
- Brain Health Scotland have produced a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions here regarding Aducanumab and the FDA decision which may provide you with further useful information.
Other ways to get involved
Join Dementia Research is a place to register your interest in taking part in dementia research across the UK. Anyone, with or without dementia, can register as a volunteer.
Become a dementia friend
Dementia Friends is an Alzheimer's Society initiative that helps people learn more about what it's like to live with dementia and the small ways to help people with dementia.
What Does Research Participation Typically Involve?
As a participant in a research study we may ask you to spend up to two consecutive days at the Dementia Research Centre (Queen Square), but it is completely up to you how much time you would like to contribute to your visit. During that time, you might participate in various research activities and may see several different researchers on a prearranged schedule, with plenty of time for breaks. The Dementia Research Centre would pay for, or book your travel (and travel for the person accompanying you) and reimburse you for the cost of meals and refreshments during the visit. If you are attending the Dementia Research Centre for two consecutive days we can also make arrangements for you and the person accompanying you to stay in a nearby hotel if this would be more convenient for you; the costs of the hotel stay would be met by the Dementia Research Centre. Unlike clinic appointments there is flexibility about the timing of research visits, and if we cannot finish a particular assessment on the day we may ask if you would be happy to arrange a later date to visit you at home to complete this.
- Research at UCL and your data
As a university we use personally-identifiable information to conduct research to improve health, care and services. As a publicly funded organisation, we have to ensure that it is in the public interest when we use personally-identifiable information from people who have agreed to take part in research. This means that when you agree to take part in a research study, we will use your data in the ways needed to conduct and analyse the research study. Your rights to access, change or move your information are limited, as we need to manage your information in specific ways in order for the research to be reliable and accurate. If you withdraw from the study, we will keep the information about you that we have already obtained. To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personally-identifiable information possible.
Health and care research should serve the public interest, which means that we have to demonstrate that our research serves the interests of society as a whole. We do this by following the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research.
If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data in a way that is not lawful you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
UCL’s Data Protection Officer can contacted at data-protection@ucl.ac.uk