Must reads

• An October 15, 2013 Genengnews.com article by Meryl Comer, Maria C. Freire, and Alan J. Russell highlighted the 2013 Geoffrey Beene Global Neuro Discovery Challenge and its focus on identifying "male/female differences in the presymptomatic, early symptomatic, and late dementia stages of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), with $100,000 in prize awards." According to the article, "Matching a research challenge with an advocacy agenda both informs the science and energizes the mobilization of women against Alzheimer’s. Challenging researchers to use existing big data as well as develop new methodologies to investigate any sex-based differences that may exist could ultimately affect how we treat—and, hopefully, one day prevent—this devastating disease."
• An October 15, 2013 Boston Globe opinion piece by Dr. Betsy Nabel, president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, focused on the negative impact of sequestration on biomedical research. According to Dr. Nabel, "...government support remains an essential mainstay to enable us to conduct research on the scale necessary to confront the major challenges of Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease.Medical research is at an important crossroad. This ought to — and still can — be a thrilling era for medical research in the United States. Cures for diseases that have devastated families for generations are within our reach, and researchers are in hot pursuit. This is no time to turn our backs on patients and on the potential for life-giving breakthroughs."