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Jonathan Schott

Published May 5, 2026

At the Cutting Edge of Alzheimer’s Research with Prof Jonathan

Blood tests that can detect tiny traces of abnormal proteins which have leached from the brain into the blood are proving a real breakthrough in efforts to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease early – a thing of science fiction five years ago, according to eminent neurologist Professor Jonathan Schott.

Based at the Dementia Research Centre at UCL’s Institute of Neurology, Jon is also Chief Medical Officer for Alzheimer’s Research UK – and explains, in layman’s terms, the latest developments and research projects in the search for early diagnosis and more effective treatments for everyone.

He talks about the Blood Biomarker Challenge, funded by ARUK and other organisiations; Insight 46 – a study of people born in the same week in 1946; and upcoming studies of those born in 1958 and 1970.

As a clinical scientist, Jon feels privileged to be at the interface between research and seeing patients every week at his NHS clinic whose lives are devastated by Alzheimer’s