American Health Assistance Foundation Committee Members Honored with MetLife Foundation Awards
American Health Assistance Scientific Review Committee Members Receive Awards to Further Alzheimer's Disease Research
CLARKSBURG, MD.-Two prominent members of the American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF) Scientific Review Committees were recently honored with MetLife Foundation Awards for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease to continue their efforts to find treatments and cures for this horrible illness.
Both Dr. Todd E. Golde, professor of neuroscience at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and Dr. Edward H. Koo, professor of neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, serve as members of the American Health Assistance Foundation's Alzheimer's Disease Scientific Review Committee.
The AHAF Scientific Review Committees are composed of our leading investigators from universities and research institutes worldwide. The job of the Committees is to peer-review and rate all applications received by AHAF requesting research funding. “Ratings given to the grant applications are based on the relevance of the research in order to award grants to the most promising and innovative research that will help accelerate the pace to find new treatments and a cure for this devastating disease,” said Stacy Pagos Haller, President and CEO of the American Health Assistance Foundation. “American Health Assistance has an extraordinary track record of funding the most cutting-edge research that will ultimately pave the way to future scientific breakthroughs,” added Ms. Haller.
Dr. Koo, who serves as the Chairman of the American Health Assistance Alzheimer's Disease Scientific Review Committee, and Dr. Golde working together have revealed that some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) decrease the production of toxic forms of amyloid beta (a molecule believed to be heavily involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease) which could lead to the development of new NSAID based drugs to aid in the treatment and prevention of this neurological disorder.
Each MetLife Foundation awardee receives a $100,000 research grant and a personal prize of $25,000 to use to continue their important work.
“These two researchers show their lifelong commitment to learning about and seeking treatments and cures for Alzheimer's disease through their discoveries and the giving of their time and expertise in serving as members of the Scientific Review Committee,” added Ms. Haller.
Over five million American age 65 and older have Alzheimer's disease. Approximately 350,000 new cases of Alzheimer's disease are diagnosed each year. The number of people with this disease doubles every five years beyond age 65.
“To date, the American Health Assistance Foundation has awarded more than $100 million to the world's foremost scientists who are seeking cures for Alzheimer's disease, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma,” stated Ms. Haller.
To learn more about Alzheimer's disease visit the website at www.ahaf.org or call 800-437-2423. In addition to funding cutting-edge research, the American Health Assistance Foundation offers helpful resources including free publications such as, Living With Alzheimer's Disease.
The American Health Assistance Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding cures for age-related and degenerative diseases by funding research worldwide on macular degeneration, glaucoma and Alzheimer's disease. AHAF also provides the public with free information about these diseases, including risk factors, preventative lifestyles, available treatments and coping strategies.