Alzheimers New Zealand Charitable Trust

 The Alzheimers New Zealand Charitable Trust is the Foundation Sponsor for the establishment of a network of Dementia Prevention Research Clinics throughout New Zealand. On Friday 8th April, 2016 the Auckland Dementia Prevention Research Clinic, the first of three clinics, was launched in the Centre for Brain Research. The goal of BRNZ’s Dementia Prevention Research Clinics is to recruit individuals with mild cognitive decline or the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and to provide them with thorough assessment and feedback on their condition together with the opportunity to be involved in longitudinal and intervention studies that aim to slow down the onset and/or progression of the disease. With 10 months of operation the Auckland Clinic has successfully trialled and established a template of clinical, cognitive, brain-imaging and blood collection and processing protocols on 60 people who have attended.  It is with great excitement that the Dunedin clinic began to see its first participants in February and the Christchurch clinic is expected to begin operation by the middle of 2017.  It is the beginning of a great journey that combines the input of the community, clinicians and brain scientists.