Release Date 20 July 2015

Dr Rosemary Lim has received a Wellcome Trust research seed award of nearly £40,000 to create a comprehensive account of the challenges faced by patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) when taking medicine.

Patients with AD can experience practical difficulties with their medicine taking. These real-life problems are largely hidden and ignored. The study will generate data which could provide new insight and recommendations for improving patients' relationship with medicines and in turn their quality of life.

Seed Awards, part of the Wellcome Trust's new research funding framework, provide responsive, flexible funding intended to enable researchers to develop novel ideas to a position where they would then be competitive for a larger award from the Wellcome Trust or some other source. In this first edition of the Wellcome Trust Seed Awards, approximately 10% of all applications were funded.

There are more than 520,000 people in the UK living with  AD, a condition that affects the brain and causes a gradual decline in memory and other thought processes. Although there is no cure for AD, a range of care and support can be given to patients, including medication that can temporarily lessen some symptoms or slow down their progress.

Dr Lim, Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice in the Reading School of Pharmacy, said: "I am very honoured and delighted to have been awarded this prestigious grant. This important study will investigate genuine patient experiences within the home and use cutting-edge research methods for investigating human experiences. We aim to develop and test innovative approaches to improve medication safety, patient experience and improve the quality of life for those with Alzheimer's."

Professor Helen Osborn, Head of the Reading School of Pharmacy, commented: "I am delighted that Dr Lim as Principal Investigator, and Dr Parastou Donyai as named collaborator, have received this Wellcome Seed Award. There is a lack of recognition of the practical challenges and real-life problems experienced by Alzheimer's patients living in their own home. This approach will significantly advance our understanding of how patients with Alzheimer's can be better supported with their medicine-taking, leading to improved patient care."

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health. It provides more than £700 million a year to support bright minds in science, the humanities and the social sciences, as well as education, public engagement and the application of research to medicine.

For more information on the Wellcome Trust Seed Awards please visit their website.