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Alzheimer's update: $10 million donated to research

Two generous families have donated a total of $10 million to Mayo Clinic to advance the progress of medical research in Alzheimer's disease. One family includes Edward and Leslye Phillips of Minneapolis, the son and daughter-in-law of "Dear Abby," advice columnist Abigail Van Buren. The other family wishes to remain anonymous. These gifts form the largest contribution Mayo Clinic has received at one time for Alzheimer's disease research.

The funding will enable Mayo to accelerate its research into understanding Alzheimer's disease and ultimately developing effective treatments. Mayo's Alzheimer's disease research is conducted in Rochester, Minn., and Jacksonville and is led by Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., and Steven Younkin, M.D., Ph.D., two prominent Alzheimer's disease researchers.

The gifts will be used to recruit and evaluate a large group of elderly Rochester residents and to drive three research studies:

• Using magnetic resonance imaging to determine who's at risk for Alzheimer's and how quickly or slowly the disease will progress. Mayo Clinic will recruit 1,200 participants for this five-year study based in Rochester. The goal is to improve a physician's ability to diagnose dementia early.
• Evaluating drugs that alter levels of amyloid beta protein. The protein is found in the brain and is thought to cause Alzheimer's. This research, based in Jacksonville, could result in the discovery of rapid and economical treatments using drugs already being prescribed for other purposes.
• Identifying genetic markers in individuals who are destined to develop mild cognitive impairment and late-onset Alzheimer's disease. This research, done in Jacksonville using DNA specimens, could help predict who is at risk for developing the disease.

"Our goal in studying Alzheimer's disease is to develop an understanding that leads to improved therapy," Younkin says. "This generous gift will aid us immeasurably as we seek to identify therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's disease, drugs that hit those targets and animal models for preclinical testing to evaluate therapeutic efficacy."

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