UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Board Member Meryl Comer to be Honored Tonight for Exemplary Caregiver Advocacy by the BrightFocus Foundation

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WASHINGTON, DC, June 9, 2016—The BrightFocus Foundation will recognize the accomplishments and contributions of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s board member Meryl Comer, who also serves as President & CEO of the Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative. Meryl is and has been a caregiver at home for her husband for the last 20 years and for her mother for the last 5 years. She is the author of the best-selling book Slow Dancing with a Stranger, a story of  her caregiving journey and her husband’s battle with Alzheimer’s.

Tonight’s reception and dinner will be held at the Institute of Peace and will honor Comer with the award for public leadership for extraordinary advocacy on behalf of caregivers. She has been a dedicated champion in the fight to stop Alzheimer’s and brings awareness to the devastating toll that the disease has on victims and their families.

Other honorees of the event include UsAgainstAlzheimer’s board member Dr. Stanley Prusiner, Nobel Laureate; Dr. Dean Bok, 2016 Laureate; and Kim Campbell and members of Glen Campbell’s family who have worked to raise awareness for Alzheimer’s.

“Meryl is this nation’s most articulate and visible caregiver advocate and a great example of the courage and tenacity of Alzheimer’s caregivers generally, who experience grave emotional, financial and physical tolls of the disease,” said George Vradenburg, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder and Chairman. “Caregivers are the second-hand victims of Alzheimer’s. But Meryl has turned her pain into action, to assure that caregivers are supported and can live healthier lives.”    

Comer has been instrumental in the development of programs and studies for Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers. Under Comer’s guidance, The Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative provides catalyst funding to innovative new projects that advance awareness, diagnosis and research in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The Foundation, along with UsAgainstAlzheimer’s and BrightFcous, are partner organizations in the Caregivers’ Health-eBrain study, which analyzes caregivers’ stress levels and experiences to better understand how these lifestyle factors are related to cognitive performance.

“It is a true honor to present the inaugural BrightFocus Award for Public Leadership to Meryl Comer, a powerful voice for gender equity in Alzheimer’s research and greater support for caregivers, the women and men who too often go unnoticed,” said Stacy Haller, President and CEO of BrightFocus, a non-profit foundation that supports research to end Alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration and glaucoma.

As part of her distinguished career in advocacy, Comer was a co-founder of WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s, a member of the UsAgainstAlzheimers’ family of networks. In addition, she served on the 2008 Alzheimer’s Study Group that recommended to Congress a national strategic plan, the forerunner of the National Alzheimer’s Plan Act, enacted by Congress in late 2010. She has testified in Congress on the impact of Alzheimer’s on caregivers and is the founder of the 21st Century Brain Trust, a coalition of non-profits committed to brain health.

“Meryl has been a tremendous ally to the millions of Latino family caregivers like me who are working tirelessly to provide quality care in the face of adversity and hardship,” said Daisy Duarte, LatinosAgainstAlzheimer’s Caregiver Advocate. “Meryl’s advocacy and fierce determination has been critical to bringing caregivers and Alzheimer’s out of the shadows for all communities.”

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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
Email: [email protected]