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Welcome to the Development Lab

For a potential dementia treatment to make it to patients there are more tests, experiments and trials to go. How do we find the right patients to give it to? How do we find out what side effects a treatment might have?

Researchers around the world work together to try and answer these tough questions. Explore the Development Lab to uncover the next steps in treatment development. Find out why blood tests, population studies and brain scans are all vital to defeating dementia.

News:

Development Lab

Findings at this stage often grab the most headlines – a new drug tested in mice, or a new marker found in the blood of patients. These stories inspire real hope, because they are applicable to our lives and could be a step towards new treatments being available to patients sooner.

We share this excitement – well designed and thorough studies at this stage can provide strong evidence for a new treatment or intervention. But we still urge caution.

Was the study done in animals or people? How many people took part? Did they see a big effect? Do the findings back up previous evidence?

These are the questions we ask ourselves when new stories are featured in the press. Positive findings must be able to be repeated, to show that they weren’t just due to chance. As the supporting evidence builds, so do our confidence levels.