We invite you to learn why this is the right moment to convene an extraordinary team to seek a greater understanding of this complex area of science. The projects in the CureAlz Brain Aging Consortium provide hope, momentum and the potential to propel science forward.
This has been a year of both tremendous scientific progress and unprecedented challenge for Alzheimer’s research. Government support for scientific research, which powered the United States to global leadership, has been disrupted in ways that threaten to stall discoveries for years to come. Researchers around the country have shared the impact of the upheaval and uncertainty on their labs and projects with me. They have grave concerns about the future of science in the United States. The federal changes are not just about funding, though that is essential to progress. They threaten the strength of the entire scientific enterprise in the United States—its budgets, workforce, and the culture that pursues data and discovery wherever they lead—with real consequences for patients, families and potential future cures.
“Each of us knows somebody with Alzheimer’s disease. Each of us knows the tragedy that this disease brings to families. We don’t want to see that anymore. With good science, we have a chance to prevent it forever. We need a robust investment in science to keep that going. And I’m very concerned that’s been compromised.”
—William C. Mobley, M.D., Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego. (Hear more from Dr. Mobley here)
CureAlz is expanding our rigorous yet unbureaucratic model for immediate impact:
- In August, we launched the Rapid Response Fund to increase support of new projects in labs facing the drastically altered federal funding environment.
- Our Accelerator Fund is advancing promising projects toward new therapeutics faster.
- We are expanding support for investigations into biological drivers of Alzheimer’s risk and progression that have been abandoned by the federal government, such as sex and genetic ancestry.
- Twenty-one years ago, we were founded around a Dream Team of Alzheimer’s scientists, and now we are creating a new Scholars program to foster the next generation of Alzheimer’s scientific leaders. We will help ensure their labs are sustainable today so that they can generate the ideas of tomorrow, driving research toward a cure.
“We will stop this disease. Cure Alzheimer’s Fund has funded the greatest discoveries that have led to this moment, where we have a chance to stop it. We can’t let funding or anything else get in the way.”
—Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital; Chair, CureAlz Research Leadership Group. (Hear more from Dr. Tanzi here)
We achieve all that we do only because of you. Your generosity sustains scientists in the face of mounting obstacles and ensures that they do not lose momentum at this critical moment. Every contribution translates directly into discovery, progress and hope for millions of families.
I thank you for your involvement with Cure Alzheimer’s Fund and ask you to consider a year-end gift to accelerate research. Whether you are a new friend or a longtime donor, whether you made a gift already this year or prefer to make your contribution at year’s end, we invite you to support our mission as this year comes to a close. Together, we can protect progress, enable real breakthroughs and move closer to a world without Alzheimer’s.
With gratitude,
Meg Smith
Chief Executive Officer
CURE ALZHEIMER’S FUND