The National Institute on Aging renewed the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s national designation, according to The University of Kansas Medical Center. More than $15 million will be provided through the five-year grant, which is the third of its kind given to the center (KU ADRC) since 2011.
"The renewal and accompanying grant will support our research infrastructure, which is associated with nearly $120 million in other grants," said Russell Swerdlow, M.D., director of the KU ADRC. "In the years to come, our work will become more urgent. What we're really looking at is preserving brain health and fighting brain aging. As our population continues to age, fighting Alzheimer's becomes even more critical."
The KU ADRC is the only Alzheimer’s disease research center in the state of Kansas and is one of 31 centers like it in the nation, according to the NIA.
“Although the center is based in the eastern part of the state, the work you do increases health care opportunities for Kansans across our entire state, including the big first district,” said Tracey Mann, Kansas’ first congressional district state representative, in a congratulatory video to the KU ADRC. “Programs like the Cognitive Care Network and the center’s focus on telehealth have provided services to Kansans in rural areas that otherwise would not have existed.”
The Cognitive Care Network at KU ADRC is a community-based program that focuses on early detection, provider partnerships and education, according to The University of Kansas Medical Center.
“This national designation recognizes the tremendous work of the KU ADRC, which continues to grow both its clinical trials and outreach, including to underserved populations across Kansas and the entire region,” said Robert D. Simari, M.D, the executive vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Since KU ADRC’s last renewal in 2016, the center has backed more than 190 studies and enrolled almost 3,400 participants into its clinical trials, according to The University of Kansas Medical Center.
“We also will continue to increase our outreach efforts as we need more clinical trial participants to keep expanding trials,” said Jeffrey Burns, M.D., co-director of the KU ADRC. “The first person cured of Alzheimer's will be a person participating in a clinical trial.”
