Jacqueline Cannon

Chief Executive, The Lewy Body Society

The Lewy Body Society (LBS) registered charity 1114579, established in 2006, is the only registered Charity in Europe which is exclusively concerned with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The charity's mission is to raise awareness of DLB amongst the general public and educate those in the medical profession and decision-making positions about all aspects of the disease as well as to support and fund research into the disease. For ten years the LBS has raised awareness, provided support and information, and funded research into DLB, which is the second most frequent cause of age-related neurodegenerative dementia. In the UK approximately 100,000 people are thought to suffer from DLB. It is closely related to dementia occurring in people with Parkinson’s disease, referred to as Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD), and which may affect a further 30,000 people. The needs of these two groups are different from people with other types of dementia. Both are caused by abnormal deposits of the protein alpha-synuclein in the brain which cause cell death. Together the two diseases are referred to as Lewy body dementia (LBD). Jacqui Cannon CEO of The Lewy Body Society lost her father to dementia with Lewy bodies 6 years ago and has worked tirelessly on a voluntary basis for the Society since its early days, taking on increasing responsibilities first as a secretary-treasurer then as CEO pro tem which turned into a permanent position, which she performed in addition to a full-time job. Jacqui has 30 years of experience as a Senior Business Analyst working for major companies including Accenture.