Funding cut a blow for prevention of dementia in NZ

The prevention and treatment of neurological disorders in New Zealand has suffered a blow with a leading research organisation losing much of its funding.

Brain Research New Zealand discovered last month that its status as a Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) was not being renewed, meaning it misses out on about $5 million in funding a year from next June.

Brain Research co-director Professor Cliff Abraham said it was surprised and disappointed it had lost its main source of funding and staff were still working through what it would mean for the organisation’s future.

“A large chunk of money dedicated to brain research has now disappeared,” he said.

Brain Research is looking into the causes and prevention of ageingrelated neurological disorders and was set up in 2015 after being selected as a Centre of Research Excellence in the previous funding round.

Neurological disorders like dementia, Parkinson’s disease and strokes were a huge issue in NZ already and would only get worse over the next few years given the ageing population, Abraham said.

Brain disorders affect one in five New Zealanders over 65 and it is expected that will increase to one in four by 2036.

Dementia alone affected more than 62,000 Kiwis in 2016 at a cost of almost $1.7 billion. It is projected that more than 170,000 people will be affected in 30 years’ time.

Abraham said the organisation would continue with its work and was now figuring out its priorities in order to keep up its momentum.

Of the 10 university research projects selected to share the $373m in funding from the Tertiary Education Commission as Centres of Research Excellence, two were new proposals while the other eight had received funding in the previous round.

The two new CoREs were Coastal People: Southern Skies and Healthy Hearts for Aotearoa New Zealand — Manaaki Ma¯nawa.

The new funding round will last until the end of 2028.