Director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Senior Director of Center for the Future of Aging, and Leading U.S. Alzheimer’s Researcher Resoundingly Support UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Call for a Time-based Alzheimer’s Prevention Goal

Washington, D.C. (Oct. 25, 2019) — At Day 2 of the UsAgainstAlzheimer’s annual National Alzheimer’s Summit, on Oct. 23, 2019, individuals representing premier Alzheimer’s thought-leadership, public health, and academic research institutions affirmed the critical need for a time-based Alzheimer’s prevention goal, which has been recently called for by UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.

The exchange occurred with George Vradenburg, chairman and co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, at the conclusion of the second day’s first plenary session. The three panel participants included:

• Karen Hacker, M.D., MPH, director for the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);
• Nora Super, senior director of the Milken Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging; and 
• Laura D. Baker, Ph.D., associate professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine, and lead investigator in the U.S. POINTER study, which rigorously evaluates the impact of non-pharmacological interventions like diet and exercise on preventing or slowing cognitive decline.

After a lengthy discussion, Vradenburg inquired about the downstream impacts that have resulted from the establishment of a national, time-based goal for an effective treatment or cure by 2025. The panel respondents spoke on the results of the national goal established by NAPA, which have included the highest public awareness of Alzheimer’s disease to date; a nearly 400% percent increase since 2010 in funding specifically for Alzheimer’s disease from the U.S. Congress; and the broadest collaboration thus far among thought-leadership groups, research organizations, industry, and government entities.

Vradenburg took this opportunity to then ask if the same benefits, by contrast, would result from the institution of a national prevention goal — and the answer from all three panelists was a resounding “yes.”

“UsAgainstAlzheimer’s has called for a time-based, national prevention goal, and we applaud our friends and partners across top thought-leadership, research, and government entities in joining us,” said Vradenburg. “The optimal system of care that will ultimately yield the best results for the 5.8 million people living with Alzheimer’s, their 16 million caregivers, and their families, must include a coordinated, national effort with healthcare consumers, providers, and payers to ultimately drive the prevention, in addition to the treatment and cure, of this disease. The added weight of groups like the CDC, the Milken Institute, and Wake Forest only heighten the urgent need for this optimal system.”

Next week, on Oct. 29, the Milken Institute will issue a paper on the importance of prevention and risk reduction within the Alzheimer’s conversation; UsAgainstAlzheimer’s coauthored the foreword to this paper.

See the clip from the day’s plenary session here.

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