Sir Jackie Stewart announces £4.2m funding to help researchers find cure for dementia

Sir Jackie Stewart has announced £4.2 million worth of funding to help the UK’s best researchers find a cure for .

(RAD) which was founded by has provided grants totalling £4.2 million to six research teams across the country, along with Rosetrees Trust UK charity. The racing legend started the charity Race Against Dementia (RAD) after his wife Lady Helen Stewart’s frontotemporal dementia diagnosis 10 years ago.

The three-time Formula 1 champion has said his wife, now 83, has no short-term memory and has described the effect on families as “horrendous”. He said previously: “I know first-hand the devastation that dementia brings to entire families when they realise there is currently no cure.”

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The charity he founded said this week; “We’re thrilled to announce our £4.2 million funding programme, designed to fuel the race against one of the world’s most devastating conditions. In partnership with Rosetrees Trust we have awarded grants of up to £750,000 to six exceptional research teams from across the UK.

“These teams will accelerate the search for preventions and cures for dementia, focusing on fresh ideas and disruptive approaches. We amended our original plan to fund five teams due to the overwhelming quality of applications we received. Through the generous support of our partners, we have now funded an extra team.”

Dementia impacts memory, thinking and behaviour and includes Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia and Lewy body dementia. More than 55 million people worldwide have dementia and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year.

Sir Jackie, 85, said: “Formula 1 teams are relentless in their drive to succeed. We believe this mindset can be applied to dementia research. I’m hopeful that these new teams will speed up progress and get results.”

Each research team will focus on different types of dementia, including vascular dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. One of the projects will explore the link between air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease. The study aims to uncover how tiny particles in the air could lead to brain cell damage and dementia.

Another project will explore the potential of focused ultrasound , a non-invasive method already used in treating Parkinson’s tremors in the US. This technique could hold the key to treating Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease dementia, which together account for over 15 per cent of dementia cases.

The Rosetrees charity, which has supported cutting edge medical research for more than 30 years, spearheaded the selection process. Richard Ross, chairman of Rosetrees, said: “Sir Jackie Stewart has championed Formula 1 racing, and Rosetrees has championed brilliant new medical research ideas.

“Together, we’re applying ‘outside of the box’ thinking to solve difficult problems, making this a dynamic partnership in the race to find life-changing breakthroughs.” Formula 1 is using its global platform to help raise awareness for RAD and accelerate breakthroughs in treatments and cures for dementia.

The charity currently supports early career researchers in the UK, , the US, Europe and South Africa. In an interview last year, Sir Jackie admitted he is forgetting people’s names and fears he may be diagnosed with dementia.

He suffered a stroke in June 2023 in the Middle East and said he is not as sharp as he used to be. The Scot collapsed in his hotel room the night before he was due to be a guest at the wedding of Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein in Amman.

He said: “You know, I could easily have it. I’ve got all the makings of it. I’m forgetting people’s names occasionally and I’m not as sharp as I was. If I have it, I have it. I’m still fully operational. But I probably will get it.”

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