What COVID-19 Taught Us About Race, Health and Wealth

This piece was originally published in NextAvenue. The last time I saw my family in person was last February at a conference in South Texas. It was the first time my 10-year-old nephew and six-year-old niece saw me on stage in front of hundreds of people talking about racial inequities in Alzheimer's research, my area of expertise. I don't know how much of the discussion they understood, but I know they saw their uncle, a first-generation college graduate, alongside experts from across the country holding his own. Afterwards, we munched on enchiladas and talked about the hamsters my husband and

A Case for FDA Approval: Biogen’s Aducanumab - First-Ever Drug to Slow Progression of Alzheimer’s

Time kills deals, as the saying goes. And the biggest deal on the Alzheimer’s front—in terms of improving cognition in the early stages of the disease—is Biogen’s new drug aducanumab, currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval. If approved, aducanumab would be the first-ever drug to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and first-ever drug to treat mild cognitive impairment. Early-stage Alzheimer’s has not been afforded a new approved therapy in more than 17 years. No other major disease of Alzheimer’s scale and mortality has gone that long without incremental therapeutic relief. George Vradenburg, the UsAgainstAlzheimer’s

The Biden Administration Can Reinvigorate the National Fight Against Alzheimer’s

The Biden-Harris administration should renew and recommit to the national goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. This goal was set 10 years ago this month. It has spurred critical investments in research and interagency collaboration which have changed the trajectory of Alzheimer’s science and brought the movement to a new precipice of hope and opportunity. At the current pace, however, this effort will fall far short of the finish line in 2025. What is required is renewed energy, sharper focus, and greater urgency – starting within the White House. But first, a bit of history: The

COVID-19 and Dementia: What People Have Learned about Themselves

The Alzheimer’s community has experienced enormous hardship and heartache since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March. Dementia caregivers are dealing with ongoing stress and people with Alzheimer’s report more rapid cognitive decline. Nursing home residents have been terribly affected by COVID-19 with rising cases and deaths, and restrictions on visitors meaning long separations from family. Throughout the last eight months, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s A-LIST has surveyed caregivers and people living with dementia on the impact of the pandemic, and learned about their stress, their isolation and their fears. But the surveys also have shown their insights and introspections. In a recent survey

Supporting Families Living with Dementia

November is both National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month, and it offers an opportunity to recognize the efforts made to end Alzheimer’s and to acknowledge and support family caregivers. In our nation, 5.8 million people are living with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, and more than 16.1 million family caregivers will provide an estimated 18.6 billion hours of difficult, selfless, and unpaid care in 2020, with a financial value of $305 billion. The numbers, the sacrifices and the suffering are staggering. And so is the isolation that comes with this disease – an isolation and loneliness