New Funding Empowers Loughborough Lecturer to Innovate CRISPR Delivery for Dementia Treatment

New Funding Empowers Loughborough Lecturer to Innovate CRISPR Delivery for Dementia Treatment

(IN BRIEF) Dr Amanda Pearce of Loughborough University has received a substantial grant from the Academy of Medical Sciences as part of the Springboard programme, which supports 62 early-career researchers across the UK with awards ranging from £100,000 to £125,000. Her project focuses on developing fluorescent polymer nanoparticles to deliver CRISPR/Cas9 therapy, a cutting-edge DNA editing tool, for the treatment of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. With dementia projected to affect over one million people in the UK by 2030 and costing the NHS around £3 billion annually, Dr Pearce’s research aims to create non-toxic, highly tunable nanoparticles capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier to target diseased brain cells. This initiative is designed to pioneer innovative healthcare applications and improve patient outcomes while providing robust support for emerging scientific leaders.

(PRESS RELEASE) LOUGHBOROUGH, 8-Apr-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — Dr Amanda Pearce, a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at Loughborough University, has been awarded significant funding by the Academy of Medical Sciences to address dementia as part of their initiative to support early-career researchers. This funding round, aimed at nurturing 62 exceptional scientists across UK institutions, provides each researcher with between £100,000 and £125,000 through the Springboard programme, along with mentoring and career development support to help launch their independent research careers.

Among the innovative projects supported this year, Dr Pearce’s work stands out for its potential to revolutionize dementia treatment. Her research involves the synthesis and application of fluorescent polymer nanoparticles for a range of healthcare applications, with a focus on developing a delivery system for CRISPR/Cas9 therapy. This revolutionary technique offers highly specific and rapid DNA modification, potentially transforming the treatment landscape for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Dementia, including Alzheimer’s, poses a severe challenge in the UK, where it is estimated that over one million people could be affected by 2030, placing an annual burden of approximately £3 billion on the NHS and the wider economy. Dr Pearce’s project aims to engineer synthetic polymer nanoparticles that are non-toxic and can be finely tuned in terms of surface charge and size. These particles will be further modified with targeting molecules designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and home in on diseased brain cells, thereby facilitating the targeted delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 therapy.

Image: Courtesy of Getty Images.

“In this project, I will engineer synthetic polymer nanoparticles to deliver the CRISPR/Cas9 therapy. These particles are non-toxic, highly tuneable to specific properties such as surface charge and size, and can also be enhanced with molecules to enable them to cross the blood-brain barrier and target diseased brain cells,” explained Dr Pearce. “I am extremely excited to begin this project looking at real-world healthcare applications of polymer nanoparticle technology. I have first-hand experience of the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease on both the sufferer and those closest to them, making this project particularly meaningful for me.”

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Source: Loughborough University