(Source: The Plain Dealer) - Since the late 1980s, families and patients in the Cleveland area have participated in an Alzheimer's registry which compiled information to help researchers track the course of the disease. Data from more than 2,300 individuals are compiled in the data bank. Scientists hope that this information could some day point to a cure.
However, lately the federally funded registry has run into trouble, learning that last year's $10.6 million government grant wouldn't be renewed in 2007. Faced with the loss of its major benefactor, the University Memory and Aging Center stopped filling vacancies and even laid off workers. Then, the center's director left to take a position at Rutgers University, disbanding his laboratory team in the process.
There are several theories as to why the National Institute on Aging declined to re-fund the center, including failure to publish enough studies and the inability to recruit staff. The bottom line is that this could be a serious blow to the industry and the field of Alzheimer's research.
Go to full story: cleveland.com
