UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health Receiving $150 Million Grant to Boost Study on Alzheimer's and Dementia

Sunday, February 4th, 2024 -- 12:01 PM

(Margaret Faust, Wisconsin Public Radio) A national Alzheimer’s and dementia research study led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health was boosted by a $150 million grant.

According to Margaret Faust with Wisconsin Public Radio, the grant from the National Institutes of Health will fund neuroimaging, particularly PET scans, to better understand Alzheimer’s and other dementias in living people.

The hope is that by identifying how Alzheimer’s affects the brain, future researchers will be able to eventually prevent, slow or delay the onset of the disease and better treat its symptoms. Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior and accounts for between 60 and 80 percent of dementia cases.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association Wisconsin Chapter, 120,000 people in the state are living with Alzheimer’s or dementia, and more than 191,000 people care for loved ones with the disease. The study will involve 2,000 participants nationwide over five years.

Nathaniel Chin, medical director of the study, said understanding brain changes in living people is a significant step forward. Historically, much of what researchers know about Alzheimer’s disease came from autopsies.

“It’s created this big window of opportunity, a window of intervention,” Chin said. Participants will range from the cognitively healthy to people with diagnosed dementia. Each person will undergo imaging twice, three years apart, to measure their brain health.

Chin said a range of participants is important because the disease can be present years before symptoms first appear.

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