$55.5M launches consortium to study neurodegenerative illnesses

Montreal, QC – A new research network with $55.5 million in funding will focus on dementia research. The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) was officially launched this week. To be led by Dr. Howard Chertkow, a cognitive neurologist and co-founder and director of the Jewish General Hospital / McGill Memory Clinic, the CCNA brings together 20 research teams and experts from across Canada to focus research on three themes aimed at preventing the disease from developing; delaying the clinical manifestations of the already developing disease; and helping individuals, caregivers and the health system in the context of a clinically developed disease.

The 20 research teams include 340 top Canadian researchers in the field of neurodegenerative diseases affecting cognition such as Alzheimer’s in a collaborative and synergistic space. To promote high impact, the CCNA will include inter-institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The consortium is supported with funding of $55.5 million over five years from a public and private sector partnership, including:

• Alberta Prion Research Institute – $150,000;
• Alzheimer’s Research UK – $300,000;
• Alzheimer Society of Canada – $4,050,000;
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research – $21,650,000;
• Canadian Nurses Foundation – $50,000;
• Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé/Pfizer Canada – $5,000,000;
• Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research – $400,000;
• New Brunswick Health Research Foundation – $1,080,000;
• Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation – $125,000;
• Ontario Brain Institute – $19,000,000;
• Robin and Barry Picov Foundation – $500,000;
• Sanofi – $2,500,000;
• Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation – $500,000;
• Women’s Brain Health Initiative – $250,000;

“The CCNA will bring together over 300 researchers in Canada who have been working hard for a cure for neurodegenerative diseases,” Dr. Howard Chertkow, CCNA scientific director. “By supplying an infrastructure, shared research platforms, national research teams, and a cohesive research agenda, we hope to accelerate our current progress towards new treatments, better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and associated diseases, improved quality of life for our patients and their families, and eventually the cures for these conditions. Canadian researchers will – even more than they do already – begin to play a prominent role on the world stage in the global fight against dementia. The CCNA will be transformative, and offers real hope of a better life for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.”