FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2012
CONTACT:
KYLE MOLER
202-478-6173, KMOLER@MRSS.COM
USAgainstAlzheimer’s Network Strengthens Role of Innovation, Public-Private Partnerships in Achieving Mission to Stop Alzheimer’s by 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The USAgainstAlzheimer’s Network today announced that Stanley Prusiner, the 1997 Nobel Prize winner for Physiology or Medicine, Barry Libert, social enterprise entrepreneur, investor and author, and Ken Dychtwald, gerontologist, author and the founding president and CEO of Age Wave, will join the network’s Board. The new Board members will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to an organization that continues to strengthen its social network of caregivers, researchers, and health professionals working to stop Alzheimer’s by 2020.
“We are immensely pleased to have Stanley, Barry, and Ken join our board,” said George Vradenburg, Chairman and Co-Founder of USAgainstAlzheimer’s Network. “Stanley will bring his Nobel Prize-winning expertise in medicine and a wealth of knowledge on Alzheimer’s research and treatment. Barry shares my belief in the power of networks to advance innovation in drug discovery and the health care industry. And Ken shares our deep commitment to develop forward-thinking solutions through public-private partnerships that will spur innovation in health care and help prepare our nation for the age wave. Our new Board members will be instrumental in bringing Alzheimer’s out of the shadows and stopping the disease by 2020,” said Vradenburg.
Currently, 5.4 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s and 14.9 million Americans provide unpaid care to Alzheimer’s victims. In the coming decades, the number of Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s will triple, costing the U.S. more than $2 trillion in the next 10 years alone. Without a cure, over 10 million baby boomers will die with the disease.
Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and remains the only disease in the top ten with no disease-modifying treatment or cure. Despite the personal and financial toll Alzheimer’s inflicts, the National Institutes of Health invests only about $450 million per year toward Alzheimer’s research – less than $90 per person living with the disease. However, researchers say with dedicated funding for research it is possible to stop Alzheimer’s by 2020.
Stanley Prusiner, M.D., a neurologist, neuroscientist and Nobel Prize winner, will serve as USAgainstAlzheimer’s advisor on Alzheimer’s science and research, and play an integral role in strengthening the network of researchers, who are on the frontlines in the war against Alzheimer’s disease.
“USAgainstAlzheimer’s is a forward-thinking organization that understands the dire need for a committed investment in Alzheimer’s research,” said Prusiner. “My colleagues in the research community and I believe it is possible to stop Alzheimer’s within the next decade. I look forward to working with USAgainstAlzheimer’s and the medical field to bring that dream to fruition.”
Barry Libert, a renowned technology investor and strategic advisor to fast-growing organizations, began advising USAgainstAlzheimer’s Network on technology partnerships last spring. Libert’s arrival is part of the organization’s larger vision of growing an interconnected community of researchers, businesses, and families using social networks as part of its campaign against Alzheimer’s disease.
“I am honored to join the USAgainstAlzheimer’s Network – the leading social network of Alzheimer’s-affected individuals committed to stopping Alzheimer’s by 2020,” Libert said. “Alzheimer’s is a problem that concerns all of us, but as a nation we are not doing nearly enough to fight the disease. Business as usual through traditional efforts, half measures, and monolithic approaches will continue our nation on a path toward health and fiscal disaster. Marginal improvements are not enough. We must embrace open innovation in research, advocacy, communications technology, industry practices, and public-private network relationships.”
Ken Dychtwald Ph.D., an author, filmmaker, consultant, and one of the foremost experts on the baby boomer age wave will advise the network on educating various audiences about the challenges and opportunities resulting from the longevity revolution, as well as share his expertise on the needs and aspirations of the country’s aging population.
“I am thrilled to join USAgainstAlzheimer’s Network’s distinguished Board,” said Dychtwald. “In the coming years, Alzheimer’s will test the strength of this country as the baby boomer generation – the largest in U.S. history – begins to enter the age of risk for this horrible disease. But by uniting the private and public sectors we can create innovative solutions that advance research and better prepare our nation for the massive societal impact that Alzheimer’s will have on our nation.”
Emphasis on public-private partnerships is part of USAgainstAlzheimer’s Network’s strategy to spur investments in Alzheimer’s research, which has dwindled in recent years due to high cost burdens and lengthy time cycles to develop drugs. The network also plans on utilizing social media and other open networks as a means of creating better lines of communication between the private sector, researchers, and families impacted by the disease.
Individuals can join the USA2 Network at http://www.usagainstalzheimersnetwork.org/
Prusiner, Libert, and Dychtwald join current Board members: Chairman George Vradenburg, Trish Vradenburg, Jill Lesser, Shawn Taylor and Meryl Comer. Sally Sachar serves as the Chief Operating Officer of USAgainstAlzheimer’s Network.
About USAgainstAlzheimer’s:
The USA2 Network is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to providing organizations and individuals with the information they need to effectively communicate about Alzheimer’s to the general public, policy leaders, and the media. Defeating Alzheimer’s will be a ‘team sport’, requiring the united power of Alzheimer’s families and organizations to create the national will and urgency of all of “US.”
George Vradenburg serves as Chairman of USAgainstAlzheimer’s Network. He is also chairman of the board of The Phillips Collection and Geoffrey Beene Foundation-Alzheimer’s Initiative. Vradenburg is a member of the National Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services created through the National Alzheimer’s Project Act. Vradenburg also serves on the boards of University of the District of Columbia, Chesapeake Crescent Initiative, and United Way of the National Capital Area. Vradenburg was previously strategic advisor and executive vice president of AOL/Time Warner, senior vice president and general counsel of CBS Inc., and executive vice president of Fox, Inc. Vradenburg received his bachelor of arts magna cum laude from Oberlin College where he was elected to phi beta kappa and his juris doctorate cum laude from Harvard Law School.
Stanley Prusiner, M.D., is a neurologist and neuroscientist, as well as the director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1997, Dr. Prusiner won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the prion, an infectious protein that causes such diseases as mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
Barry Libert is the founder and Chairman of OpenMatters (www.openmatters.com) a technology investor and strategic advisor to growing organizations and their leaders and boards. He founded Mzinga, a social software and analytics company that manages more than 15,000 social networks with 40 million members for 350 leading brands in 2001. In addition, he serves on the boards of Innocentive, the Pulse Network, Activate Networks and The SEI Center for Advanced Management studies at Wharton.
Mr. Libert is the co-author of 5 books and more than a dozen ebooks on the power of social networks in organizations. He is a graduate of Tufts University (BA) and Columbia University (MBA). He previously held positions with McKinsey & Company, The John Hancock and Arthur Andersen. He is married with two boys.
Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., is a gerontologist, psychologist, entrepreneur, and the founding President and CEO of Age Wave (www.agewave.com), a group that consults Fortune 500 companies and government groups about responding to the needs of baby boomers and aging Americans. Ken is considered one of the foremost experts on aging in America and is a critically acclaimed speaker and presenter.
Ken is also a documentary filmmaker and a best-selling author with more than 16 books on aging-related issues. He was also the recipient of the American Society of Aging Award.
Your stories bring Alzheimer’s out of the shadows. Share your story with our network – the caregivers, researchers, healthcare professionals and policymakers who will stop this disease.
Join to keep informed of legislative, research, and funding developments relevant to the Alzheimer's-serving community.
Connect with others concerned about stopping Alzheimer’s. Finding a cure for Alzheimer’s by 2020 will not happen without all of US working together.
