New gift for Alzheimer’s disease research

Derek’s association with the CMD began in 2015, when he was inspired by hearing Professor Sir Chris Dobson talk about its work to discover the molecular origins of protein misfolding and aggregation disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Derek then gave £5 million to found the Una Finlay laboratory in memory of his wife, who died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.  

The Una Finlay laboratory and the Chemistry of Health building were officially opened in 2018. These facilities have brought together a range of formerly disparate research groups to collaborate on research programmes into these still incurable diseases.

The building also has an integrated incubator, which currently hosts Wren Therapeutics, a company founded on CMD research. Wren Therapeutics has key researchers with an industrial background who know how to lead drug discovery programmes and scale production up to industrial size, while at the same time researchers often move from the CMD to Wren (and back), enhancing the exchange of ideas and techniques.

This rare two-way flow between research and industry has proved to be one of the CMD’s strengths. And with his new gift, Derek hopes to enhance this successful recipe even further.  

Derek’s gift creates a partnership between Emmanuel College, St John’s College and this department, who will each bring their own strengths and resources to the group. The gift will fund postdoctoral researcher positions and a number of postgraduate ‘Una Finlay scholars,’ who will be hosted by Emmanuel College. The gift will also provide further research funds and support for outreach.

“I first supported the Chemistry of Health building in memory of my dear late wife, Una, who suffered from Alzheimer’s,” says Derek. “The researchers in the CMD have already made so much progress, and I hope this further gift will bring us even closer to the development of new treatments for these diseases.”