Cure Alzheimer’s Fund Receives $1 Million Donation from Berg Family
Gift Establishes the Maxine and Richard Berg Brain Entry & Exit Consortium
Cure Alzheimer’s Fund received a $1 million donation from Kristin Berg, Steven Berg and Laurie Berg Sapp in honor of their parents, Maxine and Richard Berg.
The gift from the Berg family enables Cure Alzheimer’s Fund to bring top researchers from a variety of neuroscience subspecialties together to investigate vital questions regarding Alzheimer’s pathology, cerebrovascular and glymphatic function, and brain homeostasis in the Maxine and Richard Berg Brain Entry & Exit Consortium. The new group includes six core research projects organized under the leadership of Jonathan Kipnis, Ph.D., of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
“The gift from the Berg family provides for the creation of a consortium investigating a new and exciting area of research into Alzheimer’s disease, “ said Tim Armour, President and CEO of Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. “We are grateful for their generosity and honored to be a part of their parents’ legacy.”
Maxine Berg passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in January 2016 after 67 years of marriage. Just two years later, Richard Berg passed away, but he had one remaining wish to fulfill in honor of his wife: to fund meaningful research into Alzheimer’s disease.
“It was so hard for our father, Richard, to lose his wife, Maxine, to this terrible disease. Alzheimer’s robbed our family of precious years with the wife and mother we loved so much. We want to further the research necessary to prevent other families from experiencing this painful loss and hope our donation to Cure Alzheimer’s Fund will help fulfill our father’s wish,” said Kristin, Laurie, and Steven.
Richard Berg held executive positions in the flour milling and bakery industry at The Pillsbury Co., Donut Corp. of America and Universal Foods, and was a board member of the Hydrite Chemical Co. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Richard was a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He attained the rank of first lieutenant.