This year, ZonMw has awarded 17 Clinical Fellowships to medical specialists with a PhD who are eager to establish their first independent research line. One of the recipients is neurologist Floor Duits, who works at the Alzheimer Center. With this personal grant of €200,000, Duits can conduct research over a period of 2 to 5 years, based on questions arising from clinical practice.

Duits has received a ZonMw Clinical Fellowship for her research project FOCUS-ID. With this grant, she is taking an important step toward improving the diagnosis of dementia in people with intellectual disabilities. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Agnies van Eeghen, Erik Boot, and Sven van der Lee.

FOCUS-ID: Framework for Optimizing Care and UnderStanding dementia in Intellectual Disability

People with intellectual disabilities (ID) are living longer, and dementia is an emerging issue. People with Down syndrome have a high risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Research has greatly improved care for this group. But for other syndromes and ID without a known cause, little is known, and research is scarce. Because regular memory clinics are not tailored to this group, referral to the neurologist is often skipped. Yet a correct diagnosis is key for proper care. With FOCUS-ID, I aim to improve diagnostics and better understand causes of dementia in ID. I will launch an interdisciplinary memory clinic specifically for people with ID. This bridges the gap between neurologists, ID physicians, and psychologists. I will ask all patients for consent to use their data for research. Additionally, I will investigate a new blood test for dementia in people with ID. FOCUS-ID will thus contribute to better diagnostics and increased knowledge about dementia in people with ID.

More information about the ZonMw Clinical Fellowship.