RESEARCH
WHY WE FUND WOMEN BASED RESEARCH
The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement recognizes that women are at the epicenter of the global Alzheimer’s epidemic and believe that cutting edge research on women’s brains is necessary to change the course of the disease. We raise money for critical women-based research and instigate the creation of women-based initiatives at leading scientific institutions, universities, foundations and organizations. We partner with leading researchers and non-profit organizations that share our vision and hope to create women’s Alzheimer’s research funds that finance high potential, gender-based scientific investigations. We are aggressively seeking answers to the question: Why are women disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s and related dementias? Answering that question requires a sharp focus on what is particular to women’s biology, genetics, and lifestyle.
While we recognize there is some gender specific research underway in labs around the country, we also know that there has not been a sufficient emphasis placed on determining the relationship between a women’s biological and genetic make-up and the fact that women are being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, dementias and other neurological disorders at staggering rates.
The myriad of gender specific factors like hormone levels, genetic composition, age-related variables, and lifestyle practices, provide a broad basis for the research that is essential to finding the answer that we hope will lead to breakthrough discoveries with far-reaching impact on the future of Alzheimer’s disease for women, men, and families everywhere.
INSTITUTIONS WE’VE FUNDED
INDIVIDUAL STUDIES WE’VE FUNDED
2020
Dr. Laura Cox
Ann Romney Center for Neurological Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
How does gut microbiota control Alzheimer’s by modulating epigenetics in men vs women?
Dr. Roberta Diaz Brinton
Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona
What is the correlation between Type 2 diabetes therapies as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s and to the clinical care of diabetic women to protect their long-term health?
Dr. Fayron Epps
Emory University, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
How might attending church together strengthen the well-being of African Americans with dementia?
Dr. Richard Isaacson
Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic, Weill Cornell
How aware are women of diverse multi-cultural and genetic backgrounds of Alzheimer’s and their potential increased risk for developing the disease?
Dr. Lisa Mosconi
Women’s Brain Health Initiative, Weill Cornell
Besides menopause, which other reproductive factors influence onset and progression of Alzheimer’s in women’s brains, including age at menarche, age at menopause, use of hormone therapy, birth control and number of pregnancies?
Dr. Dean Ornish
Preventative Medicine Research Institute
Can the progression of early Alzheimer’s disease be reversed by a comprehensive lifestyle medicine program?
Dr. Kendra Ray
Menorah Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care, a company of MJHS System
Can an effective, music-based therapy be delivered by a family caregiver in the home for people living with dementia, and how is that measured?
Dr. Ashley Sanderlin
Wake Forest School of Medicine
What is the impact of a ketogenic diet on sleep health and memory in people with mild memory concerns?
Dr. Megan Zuelsdorff
University of Wisconsin, Madison
How might a disadvantaged social environment increase risk for Alzheimer’s?
2019
Dr. Anshu Agrawal
University of California Irvine Institute for Memory Impairment and Neurological Disorders
What is the role of inflammatory immune mechanisms in sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease?
Dr. Sarah Banks
University of California San Diego
What is the relationship between sex and tau?
Dr. Roberta Brinton
Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona
How do common breast cancer treatments affect a woman’s risk?
Dr. Jessica Caldwell
WAM Prevention Center at Cleveland Clinic
In collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health we are funding the first medical clinic in the nation to offer a women-specific center for Alzheimer’s disease prevention, research and caregiving support. https://womenpreventalz.org/
Dr. Liz Chrastil
University of California Irvine Institute for Memory Impairment and Neurological Disorders
What effects do sex, aging and hormonal changes in the brain have on navigation?
Dr. Laura Cox
Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School
Could manipulating the gut microbiome help treat women with Alzheimer’s?
Dr. Richard Isaacson
Weill Cornell Medicine
How do we build Alzheimer’s prevention consortium among six sites that harmonize data and research in order to better understand sex differences in Alzheimer’s prevention and health outcomes?
Dr. Sara Mednick
University of California Irvine Institute for Memory Impairment and Neurological Disorders
How do sex hormones affect sleep during perimenopause and the menopause transition?
Dr. Lisa Mosconi
Weill Cornell Medicine
Does a sudden loss of estrogen act as a trigger for Alzheimer’s?
Dr. Jessica Rexach
The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Research Initiative at UCLA
This initiative will enable detailed analyses of sex-chromosome and sex-specific changes in the Alzheimer’s disease brain and in human stem cell models of the disease, to understand how sex may accelerate Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Rudy Tanzi
Massachusetts General Hospital
Where on a woman’s genetic code do markers for Alzheimer’s show up?
2018
Dr. Roberta Brinton
Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona
What is the impact of specific breast cancer treatments on the risk of Alzheimer’s disease?
Dr. Jessica Caldwell
Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Cleveland Clinic
The WAM + Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health Fellowship for Sex Differences in Alzheimer’s Disease
Dr. Laura Cox
Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham & Women’s and Harvard Medical School
Can the good bacteria increased as a result of calorie-restriction be used to treat AD? Can we treat AD by giving beneficial microbiota that we identify in human subjects?
Dr. Richard Isaacson
Weill Cornell
Do the multi-modal interventions to prevent Alzheimer’s work? And how do they work differently in men than women?
Dr. Lisa Mosconi
Weill Cornell Medicine
Why and when women’s brains become most vulnerable to the loss of estrogen associated with an increased risk of AD and what is the most effective intervention to reduce risk and maintain cognitive function?
Dr. Diana Younan
University of Southern California
What is the impact of nutrition/diet and environment over the female adult life course on the onset and progression of cognitive decline and dementia?
2017
Dr. Mathew Blurton-Jones and Dr. Sunil Gandhi
University of California Irvine Institute for Memory Impairment and Neurological Disorders
What is the role of microglia in Alzheimer’s disease? Do outside stressors or intrinsic genetics make microglia a key culprit in unleashing Alzheimer’s disease in females?
Dr. Roberta Brinton
Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona
Does hormone replacement therapy, alone or in combination with other therapies, reduce a woman’s risk for Alzheimer’s?
Dr. Jessica Caldwell and Dr. Sarah Banks
Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Cleveland Clinic
Studying humans rather than mice, what is the role of inflammation, among other factors in Alzheimer’s disease onset and progression in women?
Dr. Laura Cox
Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham & Women’s and Harvard Medical School
What is the influence of intestinal microbiota and diet on immunity and neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s, and how do they manifest differently between male and female mice?
Dr. Richard Isaacson
Weill Cornell Medicine
What is the most effective time (pre-menopause, peri-menopause, or post-menopause) for women to make specific lifestyle changes to reduce Alzheimer’s risk and improve brain function?
Dr. Warren Taylor
Vanderbilt University
What impact does stress have on women’s memory and on how her brain processes cognitive information?
2016
Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Dr. Roberta Brinton
Center for Innovation in Brain Science a University of Arizona
Dr. Maria Carrillo
Alzheimer’s Association, Women’s Alzheimer’s Research Initiative
Dr. Jeffrey L. Cummings
Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health at the Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Rudy Tanzi
Cure Alzheimer’s Fund
Carried out a sex-specific screen of the entire human genome for genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.