Byrd Institute Awards $2.2 Million in Grants
Institute adds 10 new promising programs and extends awards to 13 others

TAMPA, Fla — In the fight against Alzheimer's disease, good ideas often need help to grow. Therefore, the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute provides seed money for research projects of great promise. After an extensive review process by Alzheimer's experts from outside Florida, the Institute this year has awarded grants to 10 new projects and a second year of support to 13 others. Awards for fiscal year 2005-2006 total more than $2.2 million and cover a range of very promising investigations.

For example, in continuing projects, Dr. Neill Graff-Radford at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville is working to identify genes that may delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Kenneth Heilman at the University of Florida is developing a promising computer based test for predicting Alzheimer's disease, and Dr. David Morgan at the University of South Florida is developing a gene therapy that prevents nerve cell-killing amyloid from depositing in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.

"Florida has more than 430,000 Alzheimer's disease patients that cost the economy $10 billion each year,'' said Huntington Potter, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the Johnnie B. Byrd, Sr. Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute. "With Florida's aging population, the emotional and economic damage caused by Alzheimer's will only get worse every year. It is time to prevent and cure the disease, not just manage it. Today we take another important step toward that goal of the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute by awarding grants to researchers at our sister institutions all over the State of Florida. These seed funds will allow the best ideas to be developed and tested so that they can be sent to national agencies to bring additional Alzheimer's research money to Florida to help solve this problem. We welcome these grant recipients into the Byrd Institute collaborative family and have great confidence that new discoveries made possible by these grants will bring closer the day when Alzheimer's disease is history."

Among the new grants are ones to help Dr. David Loewenstein at the University of Miami develop a new cognitive test for early detection of Alzheimer's and a project by Dr. Juan Sanchez-Ramos at the University of South Florida to convert the most common form of brain cell, the astrocyte, into new neurons to replace those lost by Alzheimer's. Also, Dr. Betty Tuller at Florida Atlantic University is investigating a new brain imaging technique.

"The diversity of these Byrd Institute projects illustrates well the complexity of Alzheimer's disease and the need for a broad-based attack to develop new diagnoses and treatments. If even just one such project leads to a delay in the development of Alzheimer's systems by a year, it will result in tremendous medical, social and economic benefits to the people of Florida,'' Potter said. "The Governor and the Florida Legislature has designated Monday, Feb. 6, as Florida Alzheimer's Day as a way to draw focus on the need for a cure. We believe these grants are a step in meeting this critical need. This Institute is committed to serving as a partner with the Legislature and state leaders in their drive to find a cure."

A Center of Excellence such as the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute is in the best position to encourage the collaborative research that will most quickly lead to new treatments. The expectation is that the results generated from the Institute's initial support will lead to further funding from national agencies such as the National Institutes of Health. Already, Florida scientists have received almost $11 million in new grants because of the seed program. The Byrd Institute is funded by the Florida Legislature to serve as a Center of Excellence and framework to help Florida's scientists work together to find a cure for Alzheimer's.

The grant recipients are:
Ruth Tappen, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University, Lynn College of Nursing
Robert Glueckauf, Ph.D., Florida State University, Medical Humanities & Social Sciences
Neill Graff-Radford, MD, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
Floyd Willis, MD, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
Christopher Eckman, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
Todd Golde, MD, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
Michael Mullan, MD, Ph.D., Roskamp Institute
Kevin Wang, Ph.D., University of Florida
Kenneth Heilman, MD, University of Florida
Roland Shytle, Ph.D., University of South Florida
Jun Tan, Ph.D., University of South Florida
James Mortimer, Ph.D., University of South Florida
David Morgan, MD, University of South Florida
Ranjan Duara, MD, Wien Center AD Mt. Sinai Hospital
Ranjan Duara, MD, Wien Center AD Mt. Sinai Hospital
Juan Sanchez-Ramos, Ph.D., MD, University of South Florida, College of Medicine
Herman Friedman, Ph.D., University of South Florida, College of Medicine
Ronald Kennedy Keller, Ph.D., University of South Florida, College of Medicine
David Loewenstein, Ph.D., University of Miami
Betty Tuller, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University
Otto Pedraza, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
Jada Lewis, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
Fiona Crawford, Ph.D., Roskamp Institute
Anil Raj, MD, Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition
Laura Glaze Ralston, Alzheimer's Family Services, Inc.
Al-Awar Smither, Area Agency on Aging of Central Florida
Monica Dunkley, RN, Dubin Alzheimer's Resource Center
Richard Lilliston, MSW, Hillsborough Association for Retarded Citizens
Myra Price, Hillsborough County Department of Aging Services
Sue Maxwell, MSW, Lee Memorial Health System
Bruce Robinson, MD, Sarasota Memorial Hospital Memory Disorder Clinic

Other Research Awards:
Yong Jeong
Morton Plant Mease Foundation
James Mortimer, Ph.D., University of South Florida
David Loewenstein, Ph.D., University of Miami

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