It forms part of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation open to researchers and clinicians worldwide.
The programme’s aim is to translate cutting-edge research into timely and practical interventions to help people stricken by the cruel disease.
Many of the world’s top dementia scientists, such as Prof John Hardy of University College, London, are based in Britain. Funding through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has transformed the fight against malaria and Aids.
Experts hope dementia will be the next to benefit and hailed the announcement as a “potential game changer”.
Alzheimer’s Society’s Dr Doug Brown said: “His foundation’s impact on diseases like malaria has been staggering.
Today’s announcement is a very welcome boost to what we consider one the most fundamental questions of dementia – how to identify people with dementia better and earlier.
“By trying to improve scans and tests, and thinking out of the box as to what could be an early sign of dementia, Alzheimer’s Society researchers have already been working to identify people at a high risk of developing dementia before they get symptoms, so we can have a chance of preventing them ever experiencing the devastating effects of dementia.”
Shocking statistics show that a person develops dementia somewhere in the world every three seconds.
There are now more than 50 million people living with dementia worldwide, of which Alzheimer’s is the most common form.
Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “The ability to diagnose diseases like Alzheimer’s early and accurately remains one of the biggest challenges.”