BRISTOL BIKER TOURS EUROPE ON DEMENTIA RESEARCH MISSION

BRACE - Funding Research into Dementia (PRESS RELEASE)

A MOTORCYCLE-mad Bristol man is touring Europe meeting leading dementia scientists to raise awareness of the disease.

Roy Adair, from Westbury on Trym, will be covering more than 2,000 miles in 11 days, spending up to 50 hours in the saddle as he visits the continent’s leading research centres.

Roy will be raising awareness for Bristol-based dementia research charity BRACE.

The Meeting of 'Minds’ Charity Motorcycle Tour begins today (September 3) at Southmead Hospital where Roy will interview BRACE-backed research scientist Professor Pat Kehoe.

Roy explained the motivation behind the tour: “My own family has been affected by dementia and I wanted to do something that would raise the profile of the illness and show people that supporting research is so important.”

“As I tour Europe I’ll be interviewing Professors and Doctors in the UK, France and Italy about their vital work. Dementia is such a cruel illness and people can feel disempowered – research work brings hope.”

“I’ll be videoing these meetings and then sharing online so people can follow my adventure and get inspired.”

Roy, whose company Open Network Associates, has chosen BRACE as its official charity, will be joined by right hand man (and motorbike newcomer) Martyn Hopkins riding pillion on the adventure.

After starting at Southmead Hospital Roy will hit the road and meet: Doctor Claudia Metzler-Baddeley – Neuroscientist at CUBRIC (Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre)Professor Clive Ballard – Professor of Age Related Diseases King’s College London Professeur Florence Pasquier – Professseur CHRU Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire de Lille
Doctor Flavio Nobili Clinica Neurologica con Centro Ictus Genoa 
Professeur Jacques Touchon - Chief of Neurology at the Montpellier University Research Hospital.

Mark Poarch, Chief Executive of BRACE, wished Roy and Martyn all the best on their two-wheeled research odyssey.

He said: “This is a wonderful and truly original idea and I’m sure the interviews will provide us with some useful and revealing information about the state of dementia research across the continent.

“Funding high quality scientific research is absolutely essential in the fight for treatments, and hopefully a cure, for dementia and this epic motorcycle ride will draw people’s attention to that fact.”

If you would like to support the BRACE, you can click onto the following link BRACE.

You can also follow Roy’s adventures via IT-Cabling BlogSpot, Twitter @royadair or LinkedIn Roy Adair

BRACE supports a number of research teams in Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire (UWE), Devon and South Wales.

Dementia affects 1 in 20 of the over 65s and 1 in 5 of the over 80s but it should not be thought of as a normal part of ageing.