Faster dementia diagnosis: inside UKRI's £80 million Dementia Challenge

From blood-based biomarkers to AI-powered tools, discover how 9 innovations are being tested in the NHS to speed up dementia diagnosis.

The goal of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Dementia Challenge is ambitious: to get 92% of people diagnosed within 18 weeks of referral by 2029. It’s backed by up to £80 million of government funding through the Research and Development Missions Accelerator Programme.

The numbers show the scale of the challenge. Dementia is one of the UK's biggest killers, accounting for almost 1 in 8 deaths. Yet today, only around 60% of people are diagnosed within 18 weeks of referral, and many wait more than a year for a diagnosis that could help them and their families plan, access support and make informed decisions sooner.

9 new technologies, one shared goal

Nine projects have been selected to move into real-world testing in the NHS, spanning faster MRI brain scans, remote cognitive assessments, home-monitoring platforms, AI-enabled clinical decision support tools and more. Each takes a different approach, but all share the same aim: helping people get an earlier, more accurate dementia diagnosis or supportive prognosis.

Here at NICE Advice, we’ve been supporting the UKRI Dementia Challenge from the outset. As the projects move into real-world testing, we're now looking at how we can provide more direct, tailored advice to the companies and researchers involved.

UKRI is taking a fail-fast approach to this programme, meaning funding will follow results rather than being awarded upfront for the long term. Each project needs to prove it's working in a real-world NHS setting before receiving further support. That makes it essential to build an evidence generation strategy that will stand up to scrutiny from the outset.

Getting your evidence strategy right early on

Engaging early with NICE Advice helps you build the right evidence from the beginning rather than leaving gaps to fix later. The Dementia Challenge projects illustrate why this matters: tackling a high-priority problem is only the first step. Building the right evidence base from day one, not scrambling to catch up as real-world testing nears its end, is what gives innovations the best chance of reaching the patients who need them.

What this means for your organisation

You do not have to be involved in a major funded programme like the Dementia Challenge to benefit from NICE Advice. Whether you're developing a diagnostic technology, a digital health platform or a new medicine, the earlier you talk to us, the more we can help you avoid costly missteps.

When you do engage with us, you can expect honest feedback, even when that means telling you your evidence base needs more work. That's not a bad thing. It's how you avoid investing years and significant resource into evidence that ultimately will not convince the people who decide whether your product reaches NHS patients.