USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A January 28, 2016 WGRZ.com article highlighted B. Smith’s work to raise awareness of the impact of Alzheimer’s on African Americans. According to the article, “Stephanie Monroe, director of the African Americans Against Alzheimer’s Network, says that’s a vital concern. According to the advocacy group, African Americans who leave the workforce to care for a family member with Alzheimer’s lose, on average, more than $300,000 in earnings and benefits and are much more likely to live in poverty than whites in the same situation. ‘We are only 13% of the population, but blacks are bearing 30% of the cost of Alzheimer’s,’ Monroe says. ‘It can just have an incredibly devastating effect.’”

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A January 28, 2016 The Intelligencer opinion piece by Michael Ellenbogen highlighted the “continuing injustice of Alzheimer’s.” According to Ellenbogen, “When it comes to funding, Alzheimer’s currently receives about $936 million annually compared with over $5.4 billion for cancer. I know there is only so much money to go around. Unfortunately, we cannot always get more money. But when we do get a little, the cancer organizations cry foul and try to justify why dementia shouldn’t receive money and cancer should…I strongly believe we should be funding cancer research. But we should be funding both cancer and Alzheimer’s fairly. I lost my father, sister and father-in-law to cancer. The one thing they all had in common was hope. I only wish I could have some hope. Please help change that.” Michael Ellenbogen, Warwick, was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 49; he is now 57.

A January 28, 2016 The Atlantic article reported that “An inventor at IBM has patented technology for a cognitive assistant that could learn all about you, then remind you of a name you can't remember the moment you need to say it.”

A January 27, 2016 MedCityNews.com article reported that “Neurotrack announces release of its eye-tracking test for Alzheimer’s and $6.5M in funding from Khosla Ventures.” According to the article, “The webcam-based test is aimed to help those with diseases like Alzheimer’s track recognition memory in order to detect risks before behavioral symptoms show up — and it only takes five minutes. The test, which uses eye-tracking technology to detect hippocampal impairment, will now be available to be administered by select physicians this year.”

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