MUST READS 

A September 17, 2015 The San Diego Union-Tribune opinion piece by Michael Quick called on UC San Diego and USC to work together to fight Alzheimer’s. According to Quick, “The fight between UCSD and USC has gone on far too long. It is an embarrassment to both institutions and to the UC regents. Pervasive challenges such as Alzheimer’s require our best collective scientific efforts if we ever hope to solve them. Now is not the time to break from the long-standing academic practice of supporting institutional moves. It is time to stop being adversaries in the courtroom and instead be collaborators in the laboratory. Let’s take this opportunity to make an opportunity.” Quick is the USC provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

A September 17, 2015 Al.com article profiled an Alabama mother diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 34. According to the article, “Richardson, now a 34-year-old mother of three, in 2012 learned she too had the disease…’I realized I'm still here and I'm still me," she said. "Letting my children suffer was never an option. I decided to turn a lifetime of heartache into a quest for hope.’”

A September 17, 2015 Fortune article reported that “longtime director of the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) Dr. Thomas R. Insel announced he was joining Google Life Sciences (GLS).” According to the article, “A champion of innovative brain research, Insel believes that technology companies are going to play an increasingly important role in understanding the complexities of brain function moving forward. He talks with Fortune about why his move shouldn’t be seen as a “defection,” how Google’s analytics can improve our understanding of conditions like Alzheimer’s and autism; and why mental health devices may be technology’s next big business.”

A September 17, 2015 AARP Take Care blog post highlighted tips to reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s. According to the post, “Just as there are currently no cures for Alzheimer’s, there are no proven preventions. But experts say that what is heart-healthy is also brain-healthy. Because I’m an Alzheimer’s caregiver, it’s a huge challenge for me to find the time to follow these recommendations, but knowing my risk, I really try.”

FINANCE  

A September 17, 2015 Reuters article reported that “The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's board has approved a plan aimed at helping Wall Street brokerages bolster protection from scams for seniors and other vulnerable adults.” According to the article, “More than five million Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, according to the Chicago-based Alzheimer's Association. That represents about 1.5 percent of the U.S. population, and could balloon to 7.1 million by 2025. These victims can become easy targets. U.S. seniors lose as much as $2.6 billion per year to financial exploitation, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a brokerage trade group.”