North East Alzheimer’s Research Centre Gets Official Opening

A new Alzheimer’s research centre has opened in Newcastle. The Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Health campus is based in the city’s general hospital, reports the Newcastle Journal.

It is a joint venture between the university and the local NHS Foundation Trust and was built at a cost of £8 million.

The centre is designed to conduct research into Alzheimer’s and other dementia illnesses. In addition to its research and laboratory facilities it will also have a medical centre for elderly people in the city

Nick Brown, minister for the north-east, told the newspaper the centre commemorated the work of Jim Edwardson, who conducted years of research into Alzheimer’s and was the “driving force behind the centre”.

“This state-of-the-art comprehensive facility takes forward Jim’s pioneering work and underpins Newcastle’s reputation as a world leader in research on brain ageing and dementia,” added Mr Brown.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, 700,000 people currently suffer with dementia in the UK.