Must reads

• A July 27, 2014 Forbes opinion piece by Representative Cathy Rodgers (R-WA) underscored the need to invest in medical innovation to address diseases like Alzheimer's and Down syndrome. According to Rep. Rodgers, "This goal is not political or partisan. It is personal. Medical innovation affects everyone: the man whose Alzheimer’s Disease has robbed him of his memory, the child who gives himself insulin shots before school every morning, or the woman who goes to the doctor because she found a lump on her right breast. We owe it to them to chart this course.With the right policies and regulations, the opportunities for American medical advancement and scientific innovation are boundless. Every day, in laboratories all across the country, new treatments are being discovered and new life-saving drugs are being developed. Let’s make sure they’re produced and approved expeditiously. Let’s make sure innovative treatments for cancer and asthma and heart disease aren’t hindered by exorbitant costs. And let’s make sure that an ineffective regulatory framework doesn’t stand in the way of saving people’s lives. So that when we accompany our aging parents to the doctor, or help those we love endure chronic diseases, or receive diagnoses we never expected, we will still be filled with hope for all the possibilities that lie ahead."
• A July 24, 2014 edition (print only) of Science-Business eXchange article reported on the U.K.'s efforts to address Alzheimer's by 2025. According to the article, "George Vradenburg, founder and chairman of USAgainstAlzheimer’s, told SciBX that the structure of the networks of Drug Discovery Institutes creates an innovative way to get research out of the lab and into the marketplace. He said that there are no similar initiatives in the U.S. USAgainstAlzheimer’s is a not-for-profit organization committed to mobilizing groups affected by AD to find a cure by 2020."