USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A February 29, 2016 Huffington Post article highlighted a new film called “‘My Mom and the Girl’…with the inimitable Valerie Harper in the starring role of "Nanny," a former singer now suffering from Alzheimer's who escapes a dinner party to explore the streets of East Los Angeles.” According to the article, “Go Girl Media, with a commitment to not only to getting their film made but assisting in that urgent mission, will allocate a percentage of all raised funds to UsAgainstAlzheimers, making the project a win/win from every angle.” UsA2 is also serving as the fiscal agent for the film. 

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A March 1, 2016 MedicalXpress article highlighted a program aimed at improving brain health among African-Americans. According to the article, “A major effort is underway to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia for older African Americans. Neuroscientist Mark Gluck of Rutgers University-Newark (RU-N) is leading a team that will use a five-year $1-million grant from the New Jersey Department of Health—obtained through a competition among states for funding from the federal Department of Health and Human Services—to teach people how to protect their brains through exercise. They hope to demonstrate that this improves memory and cognitive vitality, reducing people's risk for Alzheimer's disease.”

A February 29, 2016 The San Diego Union-Tribune article reported on a new effort in San Diego to improve standards and guidelines for diagnosing Alzheimer’s and dementia. According to the article, “Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Roundtable, which has worked to distill the best research-proven diagnostic methods into a new set of guidelines they believe can transform care for the 62,000 people in San Diego County already diagnosed with the disease and help the thousands more to avoid pitfalls when care isn’t coordinated.”

A February 29, 2016 Forbes.com article by Kathy Giusti outlined five reasons to be “optimistic about the precision medicine initiative.” According to the Giusti, “It Has Bipartisan Support…Cancer. Heart disease. Alzheimer’s. We’ve all lost far too many friends, family and colleagues to these and other diseases. Better treatments to fight these common enemies is something on which Democrats and Republicans agree. With less than a year left in his second term, President Obama is building the last of his legacy. What better capstone to his career than to leaving a healthier world for our children and our children’s children?” Kathy Giusti is the founder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.