The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has granted its Policy Research Unit in Dementia and Neurodegeneration, hosted by the University of Exeter, a further two years of funding and an additional 2 million pounds, extending the unit's work to 2028 and formally widening its remit from dementia and neurodegeneration to a broader range of neurological conditions, the university announced on October 16, 2026. The unit, known as DeNPRU Exeter, was established in January 2024 as one of 20 Policy Research Units set up across England after NIHR announced more than 100 million pounds in funding for the program on August 1, 2023. The units are designed to give the Department of Health and Social Care and other government bodies evidence to inform policy on health and social care issues; the Exeter unit's job has been to produce evidence on dementia care, prevention and support for policymakers. Linda Clare, professor of clinical psychology of ageing and dementia at Exeter and the unit's director, said the funding was "crucial to enabling us to continue our work across all types of dementia and neurological conditions." Over the next two years the unit will work with the University of Bradford, Newcastle University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Ulster University, alongside the community interest company Innovations in Dementia CIC, according to the University of Exeter. The university's announcement did not specify which additional neurological conditions beyond dementia and neurodegeneration will now fall under the unit's remit, nor did it name new research projects commissioned under the extension. NIHR's original 2023 award supported 20 Policy Research Units in total; according to Exeter's announcement, 19 of those units will continue through to 2028.