Alzheimer's Club

"Research money: $9,164,688 to Dr. Ralph Nixon , $6,692,354 to Dr. Karen Duff

Two researchers at the Nathan Kline Institute in Orangeburg have won separate federal grants for Alzheimer's disease research totaling nearly $16 million.

Dr. Ralph Nixon has been awarded more than $9.1 million from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Karen Duff was awarded more than $6.6 million from the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Both grants will enable the scientists to explore the changes that occur in the brain leading to Alzheimer's disease.

"Alzheimer's is a crucial public-health problem," said Dr. Jerome Levine, interim director of Nathan Kline, a state-run psychiatric research center.

An estimated 4 million people nationwide have the disease, which is marked by progressive loss of memory and cognitive function. That number is expected to rise to 14 million by 2040 as the baby boomers age, according to the national Alzheimer's Association.

Phoebe Colwell of Grand View said she was told by her doctor a year and a half ago that she was showing some early signs of the disease.

The 72-year-old said she takes medications to try to halt the illness. Colwell, who volunteers for the Rockland chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, said research into the disease is valuable.

"You have to try anything and everything," she said.

But she's not hopeful that the results will lead to new treatments to help her. "I don't think we will see a cure in my lifetime," Colwell said.

Researchers said it would take a long time for their work to translate into new treatments for Alzheimer's disease.

Nixon, director of the Center for Dementia Research at the Nathan Kline Institute, said the award will enable him to continue research on tiny parts of the brain cell called endosomes, which show the earliest sign of Alzheimer's disease.

He also is focusing on investigating factors, such as genetics, diet and medication, that might have an impact on the risk of an individual developing Alzheimer's.

Nixon, who also received a $7.7 million grant in 2000 from the National Institutes of Health for research into Alzheimer's disease, said the work is a team effort. Other researchers taking part in the study include Efrat Levy, Paul Mathews, Stephen Ginsberg, Anne Cataldo and Ana Maria Cuervo, he said.

Duff's research focuses on "brain tangles" that result in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Duff, who this month gave birth on the same day that she found out she was awarded the grant, could not be reached for comment."

Source: Lerner J. Big money for Alzheimer's research. The Journal News.com - Westchester,NY,USA (15 July 2005) [FullText]