President's Proposed 2016 Budget Includes $51 Million Dollar Increase for Alzheimer's Disease Research
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President Obama recently released his fiscal year 2016 (FY'16) budget, which includes a $51 million increase for Alzheimer's disease research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Under the President's plan, federal Alzheimer's disease research at the NIH would be $638 million for FY'16.
The President's funding for the Administration on Community Living (ACL), which implements Older Americans Act (OAA) programs that support family caregivers, also received a modest funding increase. OAA home and community based services received a $35 million bump to $386 million; nutrition services, including meals-on-wheels, increased $60 million to $875 million; lifespan respite care received a $3 million increase to $5 million. Other OAA programs received flat funding levels in the President's FY'15 budget request, with the Alzheimer's Disease Demo Grants receiving $4 million; the Alzheimer's Disease Communications Campaign at $4 million; and the Alzheimer's Disease Initiative getting $11 million. The Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program, administered by the Department of Justice was funded at $750,000.
The President's budget also includes $215 million to launch a new Precision Medicine Initiative to accelerate the development of medical interventions to improve health outcomes and better treat diseases. As part of this initiative, the Administration calls for the establishment of a voluntary national research group of a million or more Americans to identify new therapeutic targets, modernize the regulatory framework for DNA-sequence-based diagnostic tests, and enhance interfaces for electronic health records and patient-generated data in assessment of individual health and population-level trends. The BRAIN Initiative, which has the potential of unlocking the mysteries of the brain including dementia, also received a boost of $130 million research dollars at NIH.
The Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) will continue to urge the President and members of Congress to thoughtfully consider increased funding for Alzheimer's research and support services, and encourages stakeholders to raise the issue with their representatives as Congress and the Administration work toward developing a federal budget for FY '16.
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Senators Reintroduce Resolution Calling for Doubling Alzheimer's Disease Funding
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 Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) recently re-introduced a resolution calling on the U.S. Senate to make preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer's disease by 2025 "an urgent national priority" and calling for dementia research funding at the National Institute of Health to be doubled in FY'16 as the first step in a five year plan to increase funding to $2 billion annually. A similar resolution introduced in the last Congress failed to pass.
AFA has joined these Senators in calling on Congress to double the amount of current Alzheimer's disease research funding in FY'16 and urges its community to support this resolution. Interested stakeholders should contact their Senate offices and urge them to sign on in support by contacting Sen. Collins, Mikulski or Klobuchar. Don't know who to contact? Call the US Senate switchboard at 202-225-3121 or click here.
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News to Use
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Register Now: White House Conference on Aging Tele-Town Hall
The National Alliance for Caregiving is hosting a tele-town hall on February 26, at 3 p.m. EST. The featured guest is Nora Super, 2015 White House Conference on Aging Executive Director, and additional guests include Gail Gibson Hunt, Alliance president and chief executive officer and John Schall, chief executive officer of the Caregiver Action Network. Caregivers who attend will have a chance to share their thoughts on the upcoming White House Conference on Aging. For more information or to register, click here.
Hofstra University Raises Its Voice for Care
On April 15, students at Hofstra University,in Hempstead, N.Y., will receive a day of Alzheimer's education as AFA's Raise Your Voice For Care college tour comes to campus. Activities include an introduction to Alzheimer's disease, a concert performance by the band Honor By August and a dementia care professionals panel, as well as an introduction to music therapy. Students and faculty will also have an opportunity to take the Virtual Dementia Tour and experience some of the challenges people with dementia face every day. For more information, call Josie DiChiara, AFA's senior vice president-external relations at 866-232-8484 or e-mail.
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News Update
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"Longevity Protein" Enhances Cognition in Mice
 New research in mice indicates that increasing the presence of the protein klotho may help protect the brain against some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, including memory and cognition issues. Additional research is needed to determine if this protein could be pursued as a potential drug target for treating Alzheimer's disease. Read more.
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Member Spotlight
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SPARK! Program at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center
Sheboygan, Wis.
The SPARK! program at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wis., offers free, engaging experiences for people with mild to moderate memory loss and their caregivers and friends. Through the SPARK! Program, individuals cook, visit galleries, attend performances by visiting artists, and create projects inspired by the works of art they've seen.
The cooking program is something that Jennifer Balge, education specialist, at the Center counts as one of her favorite activities. While it can be difficult for individuals and their caregivers to cook together at home because of supervision or safety concerns, this program pairs one volunteer with each of the 15-20 participants. The result is an enriching experience for the participant and the volunteers. For the participants, the activity often "sparks" muscle memory and transports them back to the familiar tasks of the kitchen. In addition, the activity also creates conversation, as many participants may be reminded of cooking with or for their families and share those experiences.
"I love being part of this community," said Balge. "It's rewarding to be able to help people in a way that they didn't expect."
 | | SPARK! participants make chocolate-covered strawberries |
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Board of Trustees Spotlight
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Thomas J. Killeen
Continuing our series introducing this community to AFA's Board of Trustees, it's time to meet Thomas J. Killeen.
Killeen is a partner at the Farrell Fritz law firm in Uniondale, N.Y.
He was introduced to The Long Island Alzheimer's Foundation (LIAF), now a subsidiary of AFA, 15 years ago. Killeen witnessed LIAF's programs first-hand and saw how much they meant to individuals with dementia and their caregivers.
"Because of the aging population on Long Island, I'd had many people talk to me about a family member or friend being afflicted with the disease, and I would refer them to LIAF for help," Killeen recalls. "Ultimately, my family and I were the beneficiaries of LIAF's work when my mother was stricken with dementia several years ago."
Killeen served on LIAF's board for a number of years before being appointed to AFA's Board of Trustees last fall.
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Thomas J. Killeen
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Save The Date!
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Friday, May 15, 2015
Concepts in Care Educational Conference
AFA's annual Concepts in Care Educational Conference will take place Friday, May 15, at the New York Hilton.
As always, the conference is free to attend and will feature three separate "tracks" of study: one for family caregivers, one for professional caregivers and one for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses.
For more information, or to sponsor or exhibit at the conference, please contact Josie DiChiara at 866-232-8282 or by e-mail.
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