Bright Future for the Institute
In these difficult economic times, it is easy to focus on what isn't. But focusing on scarcity and worry is not how any of us who care about Alzheimer's disease can live. All of us who know Alzheimer's on a daily basis know that hope and perseverance are the values that protect us from the storm and keep us pushing forward. Together, we celebrate Ronald Reagan's belief “that there is always a bright new dawn ahead for America.”
Over the last four years, Byrd associates have pushed research forward with one goal in mind: to move us sooner to that day when Alzheimer's disease is no more.
Some of those research highlights include:
- Caffeine CURED laboratory mice of Alzheimer's disease.
- Two drugs currently on the market for other purposes have been very effective in lab animals in removing the hallmark Alzheimer's plaques that kill brain cells. Staff researchers are refining this work in preparation for human clinical trials. Because these drugs are currently available and have been proven safe and effective, it will be somewhat faster to move this new use from the lab to clinical care.
- The last vaccine that showed promise had to be removed from clinical trials because the risk of injury was too great. Byrd scientists are working on two new formulations that remove the risks associated with the earlier vaccine.
- A recent research paper solidified the link between Alzheimer's disease and Down Syndrome. This genetic breakthrough demonstrates that one of the most debilitating neurological disorders of childhood is essentially a version of the neurological disorder that most impacts the elderly: Alzheimer's.
- Partner scientists have also published important research on the compound in green tea, about cognitive stimulation as a rehabilitative therapy, and the links between traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's disease. Other partners are moving forward with work which is designed to recognize the earliest indicators that Alzheimer's disease could emerge in at-risk individuals twenty years before clinical symptoms are present.
The Byrd Alzheimer's Institute functions as both a physical location that provides state-of-the-art services to persons living with Alzheimer's disease and also a coordinating and facilitating hub for all of the state's varied efforts to prevent, diagnose, treat, and support caregivers of persons with, Alzheimer's disease.
CEO Notes
With 450,000 Alzheimer’s disease patients, Florida has both a tremendous obligation and a unique opportunity to pursue research to make Alzheimer’s a ‘disease of the past’. As an essential part of that fight, Floridians designed and built the independent Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute to promote collaborative research statewide and to serve as a beacon to recruit new world-class Alzheimer’s researchers to this state.
Floridians should be justly proud of their accomplishment, for in just a few years, the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute has attained both a state-wide impact and a world-wide reputation. We have almost 80 employees and contract researchers all over Florida, and 7 new potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, including caffeine, have been discovered based on Byrd Institute research.
As an independent statewide organization, and in collaboration with USF, the Byrd Institute led the successful effort to bring to Florida for the very first time the prestigious NIH award of an “Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center” (ADRC).
Unfortunately, due to the current budget crisis, the Byrd Institute will have to forgo State funding for the coming year. This fiscal fast will not allow us to grow as quickly as we would like and as the Alzheimer’s health care crisis requires. However, while we will have to reprioritize the allocation of our building funds, we will stay the course and keep our focused mission to find a prevention and cure for Alzheimer’s.
We are confident that with the help of supportive Floridians, and with the cooperation, collaboration and mutual respect of USF and other partners, the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute will be able to continue its success and serve its motto — Research Today: memories forever
Huntington Potter, Ph.D.