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Comment: Professor Bart De Strooper steps down as Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute

After six years in his role, Prof De Strooper will now return full time to focus on his research on Alzheimer’s disease. DPUK is delighted that he and his lab will continue to work towards translational neuroscience and dementia research.

Copyright-free logo for UK DRI (as shared on their website to download)

 

UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI)  is supported by the Medical Research Council and charity funders Alzheimer’s Research UK and Alzheimer’s Society to enable new scientific discoveries. Headquartered at University College London (UCL), the UK DRI is known for their willingness to share data, ideas and resources, and commitment to stop dementia in its tracks.

Professor De Strooper led the UK DRI since it was established in 2016. He is a world-renowned Alzheimer's disease researcher, formerly based at the KU Leuven in Belgium. Previously, he was the Director at the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, and led a neuroscience department of over 250 researchers. He was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences Fellowship in 2020, and has received several awards including the Potamkin prize, the Metlife Foundation Award for Medical Research, Alois Alzheimer’s prize, the highly prestigious Brain Prize 2018 and Commander in the Order of Leopold I.

Under his leadership, the UK DRI established seven major research centres, recruited over 60 Principal Investigators, and built a community of 800-plus researchers, and many external partners. In addition to steering the UK DRI as Director, his research group at the UK DRI at UCL also investigated the fundamental mechanisms behind Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

He will now return full time to his lab within the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology to continue his world-leading work on understanding the fundamental mechanisms that underline Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor John Gallacher, Director of DPUK, extends his support and gratitude to Prof De Strooper for his continuous effort to UK dementia research. “The outstanding leadership of Bart de Strooper as UK DRI Director will be sorely missed. As DPUK Director I would like to acknowledge, with gratitude, the strategic contribution Bart has made to UK dementia research. I am delighted that Bart’s creativity and enthusiasm will not be lost to the UK as he focusses his considerable talents on his research interests at UCL. Thank you, Bart.” he said.