DoP research awarded UCL Health of the Public Excellence in Health Research Prize

The UCL Health of the Public Excellence in Health Research prize is awarded for an original research paper in the broad area of population or public health, which has been published in a peer reviewed journal since May 2020.

The award was for the Lancet research paper, ‘Effective interventions for potentially modifiable risk factors for late-onset dementia: a costs and cost-effectiveness modelling study’

The published paper was on research into programmes to reduce dementia risk by targeting smoking, high blood pressure and hearing loss that are likely to be cost-effective and cost saving by reducing dementia rates by 8.5%

The team reviewed evidence to find effective interventions for individuals targeting some of the dementia risk factors. The interventions included nicotine gum to help older adults quit smoking, medication to treat high blood pressure in mid-life, and hearing aids for people with moderate hearing loss in mid-life.

The researchers found that the three interventions combined would cost £1.08 billion annually in England, while reducing social care costs of dementia by £866 million and family care costs by £1.05 billion.

The study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and was a collaboration between researchers at UCL and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

On receiving the award, Naaheed said: “I’m really honoured to have won this prize that recognises the importance and impact of this work quantifying the potential for dementia prevention”

The runner up prize of £2,000 goes to support research or career development, and prize winners will be invited to present their winning paper at the Health of the Public Symposium.

Links:

• Naaheed Mukadam profile
• Lancet Research Paper
• UCL News: Dementia prevention strategies could save £1.9bn annually
• Division of Psychiatry
• UCL Health of the Public Excellence in Health Research prize