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Research
is the answer!!!
Foundation Mission Statement
The
Mission
of The John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation is to serve as a venture
catalyst to provide critical seed money for novel and promising Alzheimer’s
research, generally not funded by the government or pharmaceuticals.
Significant due
diligence and oversight are provided by our distinguished International
Scientific Advisory Board and by Foundation Management.
It is The Foundation’s
objective to expedite the day, either individually or in a collaborative
effort, when we can delay the onset and advancement of, or find a cure for
Alzheimer’s disease.
No overhead
is taken
from funds supporting our
Research Scientists!
About Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a slow,
progressive brain disease characterized by changes in behavior and personality and a
decline in thinking abilities that cannot be reversed. AD is currently responsible for
over 100,000 deaths each year in the U.S.
The American population is aging at
a rate never seen before in recorded history. For the baby boomers, successfully living to
85 may only mean becoming one of the projected 14 million who will be dying with AD.
Until recently, compassion, care and
understanding were our only means to assist AD patients. Now, through research, we have a
better understanding of how to diagnose AD, analyze the biochemical changes, and study the
factors responsible for these changes.
This debilitating disease will reach epidemic
proportions with the advancing growth of our senior population. In addition, the related
costs of over $150 billion annually are predicted to double within the next 10 years. We
must advance the research ... NOW!
Meeting the Challenge — Supporting
Cutting-Edge Research
by Mike Minchin, Jr.
President
Several years ago The Wall Street Journal
ran two articles pertinent to our Foundation. One article stated, "As the
competition for government grants gets tighter, young scientists are quitting
academia which, in turn, is causing a wave of anxiety in the ranks of
biomedical research." These young scientists are important as they form
the labor pool within the university for most of the scientific research.
Often they have the most creative ideas. History is replete with examples of
scientists making huge breakthroughs in their 20s and 30s. This is the very
segment we support with our Adopt-A-Scientist program for post-doctoral
scientists.
Another article from The Wall Street
Journal addressed "The fevered debate of Alzheimer’s origins…(which
has)…caused deep divisions." The current leading theory that has
captured a majority of the funding is that Alzheimer’s is caused by the
accumulation in the brain of sticky plaques made of a protein called beta-amyloid.
This leaves valuable areas of potential virtually without funds. Since our
mission is cutting-edge research, we often fund areas not currently in vogue
and not being funded by the N.I.H. or pharmaceutical companies. In the
instance of the beta-amyloid controversy, we are funding alternative
potentials, too, and finding some positive results.
According to Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, Vice-Chairman
of JDFAF's International Scientific Advisory Board and former director of UCLA
Alzheimer’s Disease Center, "Current therapies for patients with
Alzheimer’s may ease symptoms by providing temporary improvement and
reducing the rate of cognitive decline. Given the wide array of available
molecular targets and the rapid progress toward identifying potential
therapeutic compounds, the development of interventions that substantially
delay the onset or modify the progression of Alzheimer’s can be
anticipated."
For more information about JDFAF, you can
email us
click
here or
write us at
The John Douglas French
Alzheimer's Foundation
11620 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 270
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Last modified:
5/4/2011 by David Werthe
© 2011 The John Douglas French Alzheimer's Foundation
All rights reserved.
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