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ADDING MULTIMEDIA MetLife Foundation Marks 20th Anniversary of Awards for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease; Two Decades of Investing in Science and Scientists

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 February 2006, 09:01 CST

The winners of the 20th annual MetLife Foundation Awards for Medical Research in Alzheimer's Disease were announced in Washington, D.C. today. The event was marked by a historic gathering of 26 previous award recipients, as well as leaders in science, gerontology, government, business and philanthropy, for a research briefing and awards luncheon.

This year, Karen Hsiao Ashe, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota Medical School and Minneapolis VA Center received the award for her groundbreaking development of animal models for Alzheimer's disease. In addition, Frank LaFerla, Ph.D., of the University of California, Irvine, and Christian Haass, Ph.D., of Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Germany were recognized as Promising Work winners for their significant research. Nearly half-million dollars will be used by the recipients to further their work.

Created in 1986, the Awards recognize scientists who have made significant contributions to the understanding of Alzheimer's disease. At the core of the program is recognition of the importance of basic research. The unrestricted grants are used solely at the discretion of the scientists and provide them the freedom to pursue their ideas.

"We are proud of these awards which have supported the crucial work of leading scientists in Alzheimer's research," said Robert H. Benmosche, Chairman and CEO of MetLife, Inc. "Alzheimer's is both an issue of national importance and a personal one for many families. The profound impact that Alzheimer's is having on families, society, and the economy makes it essential that research for a cure is supported."

Presently, 4.5 million people have Alzheimer's. This number is expected to increase as millions in the baby-boom generation approach their senior years. The disease strikes an estimated one in 10 people aged 65 and older, and 50 percent of those 85 or older. It is the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S. Without a cure, the Alzheimer's Association estimates that between 11 million and 16 million Americans will have the disease by 2050.

"The purpose of this program has always been to help spur creativity among scientists, in the hopes that unrestricted grants would move us closer to the day when the tragic suffering caused by this disease is but a memory," said Sibyl Jacobson, president, MetLife Foundation. "Our 20th anniversary honors scientists for their important work and renews our commitment to helping find a cure."

Dr. Robert Butler, President and CEO, International Longevity Center, moderated a research briefing attended by many of the previous winners and the current winners on the state and future of Alzheimer's research. "MetLife Foundation has bet on science and scientists for these past 20 years," said Dr. Butler. "The awardees reflect very well the progress that has been made in the field, from basic genetics to the means with which to achieve earlier clinical diagnosis."

Attending the ceremony were a number of past winners, including: Thomas Bird, M.D., University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Carl Cotman, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine, CA; Peter Davies, Ph.D., Albert Einstein School of Medicine, Bronx, NY; Blas Frangione, M.D., Ph.D., NYU Medical Center, NY; Alison Goate, Ph.D., University of Washington, St. Louis, MO; John Hardy, Ph.D., National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD; Michael Hutton, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL; William Klunk, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, PA; Virginia M.-Y. Lee, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Robert Mahley, M.D., Ph.D., The J. David Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA; Chester Mathis, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, PA; Mortimer Mishkin, Ph.D., National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD; John Morris, M.D., Washington University, St. Louis, MO; Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Donald Lowell Price, M.D., Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Allen Roses, M.D., GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, N.C.; Dennis Selkoe, M.D., Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA; Sangram Sisodia, Ph.D., University of Chicago, IL; Thomas Sudhof, M.D., University of Texas, Dallas, TX; Rudolph Tanzi, Ph.D., Harvard University, Boston, MA; Robert Terry, M.D., University of California, San Diego, CA; John Trojanowski, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Karl Weisgraber, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, CA; Ellen Wijsman, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Bruce Yankner, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard University, Boston, MA; and Steven Younkin, M.D., Ph.D., Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL.

"The MetLife award is remarkable for several reasons," said Dr. Donald Price, Director of the Division of Neuropathy at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, commenting about the importance of MetLife Foundation's support. "Over the past 20 years, MetLife has recognized an extraordinary group of basic, translational and clinical investigators, the vast majority of whom continue to make important contributions to Alzheimer's disease. The award has allowed recipients to recruit and support young investigators who have created a pipeline of those committed to Alzheimer's research, thus assuring continued progress toward a cure."

"The first MetLife Foundation award in 1986 was around the time that the world started being worried about Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Dennis J. Selkoe, a past winner who is Professor of Neurologic Diseases in the Department of Neurology at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. "They had the foresight to recognize that Alzheimer's was going to be the disease of not one decade, but many decades, and it was going to be an enormous public health problem."

"The MetLife Foundation award is important because the funding provided by the award affords a unique opportunity to pursue more speculative research that would be difficult to fund through traditional grant mechanisms. As such, MetLife Foundation fosters creative approaches to medical research," said Dr. Bruce Yankner, past winner and Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School.

About the new MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research Winners

Winner of the Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's disease

Dr. Ashe has distinguished herself over the past 20 years with her groundbreaking development of mouse models that produce human forms of proteins associated with neurological disorders. Her work indicates that it may be possible to restore the function of brain cells that have been damaged but have not yet degenerated beyond repair. If this is true, it shifts today's best case scenario for people with Alzheimer's from stopping further decline to actually recovering lost ground. Dr. Ashe and her team have also generously distributed the mice used in the research to other academic researchers, and the animals have been used in hundreds of studies. In addition to her work at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Ashe is a Research Scientist at the Geriatric Research, Education and clinical Center of the Minneapolis VA Hospital. She received her PhD from MIT and her M.D. from Harvard Medical School. She holds the Edmund Wallace and Anne Marie Tulloch Chairs in Neurology and Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota and has received numerous awards and honors, including the Culpeper Foundation Scholarship in Medical Sciences and the Alzheimer's Association Faculty Scholar Award.

Promising Work winners

Dr. Haass is a Professor in the Department of Metabolic Biochemistry at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Neurologic Diseases at Harvard Medical School, and as an assistant professor for neurology at Harvard, made major discoveries that provided an understanding of how amyloid beta-peptide, the key component of amyloid plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, is generated at the molecular and cellular level. Upon his return to Germany as a full professor at the University of Munich, and over succeeding years, Dr. Haass has broadened his scientific approach by investigating the structure, function and amyloidogenesis of Alzheimer's disease-causing presenilin-dependent intramembrane protease complexes. His move to Munich was also accompanied by the establishment of a Parkinson's disease research group that initially focused on the first PD gene, a-synuclein. Dr. Haass is recipient of the Award of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, Award of the German Brain League, International Alois Alzheimer Award, Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award, and the Potamkin Award of the American Academy of Neurology.

Dr. LaFerla, Professor, Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, Irvine (UCI), is also Co-Director of the Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia and a Fellow at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. The major focus of Dr. LaFerla's research is understanding in clear terms the molecular development of Alzheimer's disease. Prior to joining the University of California, Dr. LaFerla was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Virology at the American Red Cross in Rockville, Maryland. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the UCI Innovation Award, the Zenith Fellow Award from the Alzheimer's Association, the Chancellor's Fellow, UCI, Distinguished Mid-career Faculty Award for Research (UCI), the Ruth Salta Junior Investigator Achievement Award in Alzheimer's Disease Research, and the Ratiometric Calcium Imaging Award (Intracellular Imaging, Inc.).

About MetLife Foundation

MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 by MetLife to carry on its long-standing tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. MetLife and MetLife Foundation have invested more than $15 million for Alzheimer's research and public information programs, including $10 million through the Awards for Medical Research program. MetLife Foundation also sponsored the Emmy-award winning PBS documentary, The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's. Working with the Alzheimer's Association, the Foundation has supported caregiving videos, resources for the Hispanic community and the Safe Return identification program, which addresses the problem of senior wandering. The Foundation has expanded its focus on aging issues, including helping people remain physically and mentally fit and remaining engaged in the community. It also supports programs addressing issues of caregiving, intergenerational activities and volunteer opportunities. Grants support health, education, and civic and cultural programs. More information about MetLife Foundation is available at www.metlife.org.

Source: Business Wire

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