WASHINGTON, DC—Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher was officially announced as a new member of the UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2) Board of Directors, where he will add his voice and influence to a movement calling for urgency and action to defeat a disease that is the third leading cause of death In the United States.
Satcher, who is currently Founding Director and Senior Advisor for the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine, will be an integral part of shaping UsAgainstAlzheimer’s work to increase investment in Alzheimer’s research, creating a more robust and faster clinical trial infrastructure and addressing the disproportionate effect of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias on communities of color.
“From both a personal and professional perspective, I am deeply engaged in the struggle to find a treatment and a cure for Alzheimer Disease,” Satcher said. “I am especially concerned about the disproportionate impact of this disease on people of color, and I believe that we must find a way to better support caregivers, whether they be family members or professionals.”
Satcher, who earned an MD and PhD from Case Western Reserve University, will draw from his expansive expertise and career experiences, including positions as the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. He has also served as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
“We are honored to be joined by Dr. Satcher, who brings to our organization an impeccable track record of public service and a passionate commitment to improve the health of all Americans,” said UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder and Chairman George Vradenburg. “To defeat Alzheimer’s, we need exceptional leadership and big-league thinking. Dr. Satcher, who has already been a champion of this cause, will provide that and more to this fight.”
Satcher is joined by current UsA2 board members Trish Vradenburg, Co-Founder and Vice-Chair, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s; Meryl Comer, President, Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer's Initiative; John R. Dwyer, Jr., Founding Board Member, President, Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation; Jill Lesser, President, WomenAgainstAlzheimer's Network, and Principal, JAL Consulting, LLC; Peter L. Levin, Founder & CEO, Amida Technology Solutions; Stanley Prusiner, MD, Professor of Neurology, and Director, Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of California, San Francisco; Karen Segal, Founding Board Member, Children’s Research Fund North Suburban Board of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago; and Shawn Taylor, Trustee, KPB Corporation.
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UsAgainstAlzheimer’s is an innovative non-profit organization demanding – and delivering – a solution to Alzheimer’s. Driven by the suffering of millions of families, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s presses for greater urgency from government, industry and the scientific community in the quest for an Alzheimer's cure – accomplishing this through effective leadership, collaborative advocacy, and strategic investments.
Founded in 2010, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s has worked across sectors to: (1) secure the national goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s by 2025 and help secure nearly $500 million in additional public funding for Alzheimer’s research over the past few years; (2) drive global efforts that resulted in the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations, the G7 group, to embrace a similar 2025 goal and to call for greater levels of research investment and collaboration; and (3) forge industry commitments to improve efficiencies for an expedited drug discovery and approval process.
CONTACT:
Tim Tassa
202.263.2580
[email protected]