Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced today it has awarded a $300,000 grant to Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.

Cure Alzheimer’s Fund will use the grant solely to fund research on Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia in the elderly and a burgeoning unmet medical need that only will worsen as individuals continue to live longer. Currently more than 5.2 million Americans are living with this disease, including between 200,000 and 500,000 people under the age of 65.

Cure Alzheimer’s Fund has provided funding for groundbreaking research projects that have lead to a better understanding of the causes and genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s. Time Magazine recently named the discovery of four novel genes that may significantly increase the risk of the most common form of late-onset Alzheimer’s as a “Top Ten Medical Breakthrough of 2008”. These findings were part of the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund’s “Alzheimer’s Genome Project” (AGP), established three years ago to identify the full set of Alzheimer’s disease genetic risk factors. The project may lead to more aggressive therapeutic interventions that differ from current treatments that only address the symptoms of the disease.

“We are deeply grateful for this generous gift from the Leona M. Helmsley Trust,” said Tim Armour, President and CEO of Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. “This grant will help Cure Alzheimer’s Fund continue our mission of funding the critical research necessary to better understand Alzheimer’s in hopes of finding more effective treatments and a potential cure for this disease.”

Cure Alzheimer’s Fund has no endowment and passes funds raised directly to selected research as determined by the Cure Alzheimer’s Research Consortium. The Foundation has no financial or intellectual property interest in the research funded, and will make known the results of all funded research as soon as possible. At a time when the federal government investment for Alzheimer’s research and education is decreasing, Cure Alzheimer’s Fund has raised almost $12 million, investing all of it directly into research.