Andrew Griffith, the Arundel and South Downs MP, has welcomed the announcement of Scott Mitchell, husband of the late Dame Barbara Windsor, as the People’s Champion for a national Dementia Mission.
The ‘Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission’, launched by the Government in 2022, has this week awarded a further £6 million of funding to ten breakthrough projects to including how AI can be used to support dementia diagnosis, and research looking at how ‘biomarkers’ found in blood can help detect the disease early.
The Mission forms part of the government’s commitment to double funding for dementia research to £160 million a year in the coming financial year.
Mr Griffith, in addition to his role as the South Downs MP, serves as the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation responsible for working with researchers and industry to mobilise efforts to tackle illnesses such as dementia and regularly meeting with the leaders of the ‘Dementia Mission’ designed to cure the disease which touches so many families.
Speaking about the announcement, Andrew Griffith MP said:
“Dementia is a cruel illness which touches so many in our community. I know from experience in my own family how devastating it can be and what an impact it has on family and carers.
The UK is a world leader on research for new treatments and diagnosis to tackle the illness, and I am proud to be playing a small role as a government minister to help expand the treatments available to transform dementia outcomes.”
