Alzheimer?s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, a devastating disease characterised by the loss of mental function. Large numbers of patients are affected by this disease worldwide, and as the world population is aging, the impact of this disease is ever increasing. None of the drugs used to treat patients at present affect significantly the disease. There is evidence that in the brain of patients with Alzheimer?s disease there is an imbalance in the activity of metals such as zinc and copper. There is a high concentration of these metals in areas of the brain affected by the disease, and it is believed that this process is responsible for brain damage. There is evidence that drugs that can bind these metals and reduce their concentration could affect beneficially the patients, and change the disease course. We know already that this new type of drug is likely to be well-tolerated, and there are already some observations which support the idea that these drugs can improve significantly the mental deterioration in patients. Our project is to develop new and improved drugs which can bind excess metals and thus reduce the toxic processes in the brain of patients with dementia. The funding will help us choose the best compound which could be tested in the next few years in patients.