USA2 spotlight 

• POLITICO - "ALZHEIMER’S GROUP FAULTS RESEARCH DOLLARS — It’s not that the horrific disease got cut out of the House’s $1.1 trillion spending legislation, but the $25 million increase included for the National Institute on Aging, most likely for greater dementia research, “is a minimal down payment on what multiple experts have said is needed to achieve our national goal of preventing and treating Alzheimer’s by 2025,” George Vradenburg of USAgainstAlzheimer’s responded in a statement today. Plus, it’s only a quarter of what a Senate Appropriations subcommittee had proposed earlier this year. To make progress against this “cancer-size problem,” Vradenburg said, “the United States must ramp up funding for Alzheimer’s research to $2 billion a year from the current level of about $560 million.” USA2's statement on the budget bill can be found here. 
• A December 9, 2014 Miami Herald book review highlighted USA2 board member Meryl Comer's book Slow Dancing With a Stranger. According to the review, "Comer can rattle off disturbing facts and figures about the disease — Florida has more Alzheimer’s patients than any state but California; the U.S. spends $215 billion on care and less than one percent on research — but her memoir is deeply personal and all the more powerful for it. “I think there’s a mythology that Alzheimer’s is a passive fading away of an individual,” says George Vradenburg, chairman and founding board member of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, an organization that presses for greater urgency from the government, industry and scientific communities in the search for a cure. “Nancy Reagan gave us the romantic vision of the long goodbye. Meryl’s book highlights the harsh reality. It highlights in a personal way the real story, the impact of the disease not just on the victim but on the entire family. It highlights the need to regard the caregiver as the second-hand victim of the disease.” As a longterm caregiver, Comer understands the challenges (she writes that she neglected her own health for decades; there just wasn’t time for routine check ups). She created an online brain study for caregivers in order to measure and examine their condition (you can sign up to participate at merylcomer.com/e-lab/)."
• A December 8, 2014 USAgainstAlzheimer's press release announced the release of ClergyAgainstAlzheimer's Seasons of Caring: Meditations for Alzheimer's and Dementia Caregivers. According to the release, "The book is written for Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers, their families and friends, clergy and faith leaders, and care professionals. It will have special meaning for facilitators and members of Alzheimer's support groups, and serve as a catalyst for group reflection, discussion and individual meditation. Each of the 72 contributors – many caregivers themselves – draws upon his or her years of experience to offer words of hope, encouragement and understanding to those on the dreaded Alzheimer's journey, giving voice to the unique challenges confronting Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers."

• A December 10, 2014 Washington Post article highlighted elements in the $1.01 trillion spending bill, including a small bump for Alzheimer's. According to the article, "The nation's premier medical research agency would receive $30.3 billion, a $150 million overall increase. Democrats noted that the new funding helps especially for ongoing Alzheimer's and brain research programs." Also reported on by Science Mag, USA Today, and others.

• A December 10, 2014 Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health press release announced the release of a 2015 calendar of classic movie memories drawn from the favorite movies of patients. According to the release, "All individuals featured in the calendar are patients, caregivers and volunteers who cope with degenerative brain diseases at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. According to clinic doctors, the experience of working on this calendar was not only a well-deserved break from the challenges of managing a brain disease, but helped relive old memories and make new ones for all involved."