Major funding from a coalition of American philanthropists is being fast-tracked to develop a simple eye test to detect early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) has given the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) more than AUD$600,000 to support its research into the development of novel biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The ADDF is funded by a number of US philanthropists, including ADDF co-founder Leonard Lauder, Bill Gates and Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos.

The new study is based on recent research indicating that the protein amyloid beta, characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, accumulates in the retina as well as the brain. Using specialised colour imaging cameras developed by CERA’s Associate Professor Peter van Wijngaarden and Dr Xavier Hadoux, the team are hopefully they will be able to identify the onset of Alzheimer’s long before any symptoms appear.

The approach has the potential to revolutionise the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, said A/Prof van Wijngaarden. “Current tests for Alzheimer’s disease are expensive and invasive. Not only are they out of the financial reach of most healthcare systems, their cost and limited availability make the testing of new treatments much more difficult, slowing down the pace of discovery.’’

As well as A/Prof van Wijngaarden and Dr Hadoux, the research team including neuropsychologist Dr Yen Ying Lim and neurologist Dr Nawaf Yassi.