Canadian brain bank network to advance research on Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers receive total of $2.5 million to establish coordinated system for brain donation and to participate in international dementia research projects

January 23, 2018 – Montreal, Quebec – Canadian Institutes of Health Research

More than 400,000 Canadians aged 65 and over live with diagnosed dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, which accounts for approximately 70 percent of cases. The cause of this degenerative brain disease is largely unknown and no effective treatment exists. The disease has a devastating effect on individuals and their families.

To advance our understanding of dementia and contribute to the search for new treatments, Mr. Anthony Housefather, Member of Parliament for Mont Royal, today announced, on behalf of the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health, an investment of $2.5 million from the Government of Canada for dementia research.

The funding includes $1 million to establish a Canadian brain bank network that will be linked to the international Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). The Canadian ADNI BraIn bank Network, or CABIN, will provide the personnel and physical infrastructure needed to contribute to the ADNI program and more broadly support brain donation and tissue banking for dementia research programs in Canada. The funding also includes $1.5 million for three international projects involving Canadian and European researchers funded under the European Union’s Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Diseases.

This research was all funded under the international component of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Dementia Research Strategy. The recipients of the funding include researchers at McGill University, the Jewish General Hospital, University of British Columbia, and the University of Ottawa, and Quebec’s Institut national de la recherche scientifique.

The Government of Canada is currently developing a national dementia strategy that will be evidence-based and build on the innovative work already underway across the country.