On September 21 took place the celebration of World Alzheimer's Day. The sufferers of this disease condition around the world have been honoured and recognised in a drive to push Alzheimer's research to the top of policymaker agendas. This event was also an opportunity to take stock of the research being funded by the European Commission.

On September 21, during the celebration of World Alzheimer's Day, sufferers of the condition around the world have been honoured and recognised in a drive to push Alzheimer's research to the top of policymaker agendas and was also the opportunity to take stock of the research being funded by the European Commission as part of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

World Alzheimer's Day began in 1994 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the charity Alzheimer's Disease International. This event is an opportunity to take stock of the research being funded by the European Commission as part of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), which has gone much further than in previous framework programmes. Since 2007 over €100 million has been dedicated to research on Alzheimer's disease. Most of the funding into Alzheimer's under FP7 has been carried out under its 'Health' Theme, about €60 million in total.

The European research projects on Alzheimer disease focuses primarily on gaining a better understanding of the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic targets. For example, LUPAS ('Luminescent polymers for in vivo imaging of amyloid signatures') project, which aims to bridge the gap between diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases. Additionally, research into Alzheimer's disease is also being carried out as part of the Joint Programming on Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND) initiative, funded by the EU as part of the JUMPAHEAD ('Coordination Action in support of the implementation of a Joint Programming Initiative for Combating Neurodegenerative Diseases, in particular Alzheimer s disease') project.