NIH FY19 Bypass Budget Proposal Moves Alzheimer’s Funding Towards National Goal

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WASHINGTON, DC, July 28, 2017—UsAgainstAlzheimer’s applauds the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) recommendation to Congress and the Administration that FY 19 research funding for Alzheimer’s, a disease that affects 5.5 million Americans and their caregivers, must increase by nearly $600 million from the current FY 17 level of $1.4 billion.

 “We applaud leaders at NIH for their acknowledgment of this disease as an urgent public health crisis, and will work with Congressional leaders to ensure that recent funding proposals become reality and help shepherd in an era of innovation and hope,” said George Vradenburg, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder and Chairman.

The FY 19 bypass budget marks the third such estimate NIH has produced for Alzheimer’s, a trend that will continue until 2025, the year the government has targeted as the goal to effectively treat and prevent Alzheimer’s and related dementias. The bypass is a direct transmission of professional judgement budget by NIH to the Administration and Congress to speed discovery of medical solutions for Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

Alzheimer’s research funding has recently seen significant increases, due to the fierce advocacy of organizations like UsAgainstAlzheimer’s and because of the deep bipartisan commitment made by leaders in Congress. Under the FY17 omnibus budget, Alzheimer’s research funding at NIH increased to approximately $1.4 million, and recently, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies advanced a fiscal year 2018 funding bill that would increase Alzheimer’s research funding at NIH to $1.8 million.

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s will continue to work closely with Congressional leaders to cement these increases for FY 18 and to make FY 19 the year in which NIH funding for Alzheimer’s research exceeds $2 billion.

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UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2) is an innovative non-profit organization demanding – and delivering – a solution to Alzheimer’s. Driven by the suffering of millions of families, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s presses for greater urgency from government, industry and the scientific community in the quest for an Alzheimer's cure – accomplishing this through effective leadership, collaborative advocacy, and strategic investments.

Founded in 2010, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s has worked across sectors to: (1) secure the national goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s by 2025 and help secure nearly $500 million in additional public funding for Alzheimer’s research over the past few years; (2) drive global efforts that resulted in the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations, the G7 group, to embrace a similar 2025 goal and to call for greater levels of research investment and collaboration; and (3) forge industry commitments to improve efficiencies for an expedited drug discovery and approval process.

Contact: Tim Tassa


Phone: 202-263-2580