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The Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, Centre for Brain Research(CBR) at Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) have come together to research the relationship between diabetes and brain health. Experts on diabetes, neuroscience and dementia will study how metabolic disorders like diabetes influence cognitive decline and neurological diseases, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, a note on the development said. Separate Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) were signed between MDRF, CBR and the UK DRI, they said, on the partnership that aims to facilitate large-scale studies, data exchange and translational research to improve early detection and prevention strategies. V Mohan, Chairman MDRF, said, “This collaboration marks a milestone in our journey to understand how diabetes affects not just the body but also the brain. R. M. Anjana, President, MDRF, added: “Diabetes is increasingly being recognised as a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia. Through this partnership, we will leverage the strength of multi-disciplinary expertise and diverse datasets to uncover early markers of brain aging in people with diabetes. This could pave the way for preventive and therapeutic breakthroughs.” Siddharthan Chandran, Director & Chief Executive, UK Dementia Research Institute, pointed out that “Understanding how metabolic disorders influence brain function is one of the great scientific challenges of our time.” KVS Hari, Director, Centre for Brain Research, added that “Working with MDRF and UK DRI will help integrate large-scale clinical, imaging, genomics and proteomics data to identify key pathways linking diabetes and cognitive health.” (CBR was established in 2014 as a not-for-profit society by the IISc, with support from the Pratiksha Trust founded by Dr Kris Gopalakrishnan (co-founder of Infosys) and Sudha Gopalakrishnan. ) Henrik Zetterberg, Head, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, University of Gothenburg, Group Leader, UK DRI at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and visiting faculty at CBR, said the collaboration represented “an exciting frontier for dementia research. By studying metabolic factors and brain biomarkers together, we can gain deeper insights into disease mechanisms and identify novel intervention strategies.” Published on October 25, 2025
