Alzheimer's Society and our college, St. John's

Alzheimer's Society and our college, St. John's
The symbolic and scientific connections

Our college and Alzheimer’s Society share a symbol, the forget-me-not. The enigmatic motto of our foundress, Lady Margaret Beaufort, matriarch of the wars or the roses, is “Souvent me souvient”. This cryptic middle-French may be translated as “Remember me often”, giving rise to the forget-me-not as a college flower. The blue blossoms adorn the ceilings and plasterwork of many buildings in college.

“Souvent me souvient”. This cryptic middle-French may be translated as “Remember me often”, giving rise to the forget-me-not as a college flower

(Left) Forget-me-nots on the vaulting and front plasterwork of Great Gate. (Right) Sir Christopher Dobson, pioneer of Alzheimer's research and Master of the college.

Beyond this, our most recent Master, Sir Christopher Dobson, was a titan of Alzheimer’s research, credited with the discovery that ordinary proteins may misfold into amyloid aggregates (a likely cause of Alzheimer’s). In 2012, Chris Dobson founded the Centre for Misfolding Diseases, an Alzheimer’s research building in the university Chemistry Department (and where I did my Master’s project), and Wren Therapeutics, a company focused on the chemical basis of Alzheimer’s medicines. Sadly, Chris Dobson passed away whilst Master in 2019, and so this journey is also very much in his memory.

Website for the Centre of Misfolding Diseases: https://www.cmd.ch.cam.ac.uk/

Alzheimer’s Society is Britain’s leading dementia charity, for both support and research. The scientific work funded by the charity, following in the legacy of our former Master, has every hope of reducing the impact of dementia and Alzheimer’s year by year. The charity offers dementia support lines, forums, local services, and support resources for families and sufferers. Every donation has such a beautiful and enormous impact.

Ryan