The two most recent news stories posted on our website show something of the variety of our work, what we (and others) do to raise and money and what we spend it on.
On the one hand, there is the announcement of a £178,000 grant to Dr Vasanta Subramanian at the University of Bath. This is actually the fourth grant we have awarded to Bath this year, supporting varied and vital research.
Vasanta’s research uses the latest knowledge in stem cell research to replicate brain cells and track the effect on them of fronto-temporal dementia. These are adult stem cells, developed from skin samples.
The project also represents an extension of BRACE-funded research into a different form of dementia. Other research already funded by the charity focuses on Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia and vascular dementia.
This follows the previous day’s news story about Bryony Wood. Her great grandmother has dementia, so the cause is very personal to Bryony and her family. She is a pupil at Bradley Stoke Community School and decided to help the school’s fundraising for BRACE by swimming three miles.
That’s a very long swim, especially for those of us who feel a sense of achievement if we make it to the other end of the pool. Bryony managed no fewer than 216 lengths, despite being disrupted by some other swimmers.
I applaud Bryony for her commitment and sheer endeavour. She can be sure her part in the fight against dementia will count, because it’s the swimming, the running, the cake-making, tin-shaking and all the other fundraising that makes the work of people like Vasanta possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment