Cure Alzheimer's Fund (CAF) is an American

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

GuideStar

Accessed 26 March 2014.Better Business Bureau

. Accessed 26 March 2014. based in

Wellesley, Massachusetts Wellesley () is a New England town, town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of Greater Boston. The population was 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. Wellesley College, Babson Col ...

. It supports and funds research focusing on understanding and potentially curing

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

utilizing a

venture philanthropy Venture philanthropy is a type of impact investment that takes concepts and techniques from venture capital finance and business management and applies them to achieving philanthropic goals. The term was first used in 1969 by John D. Rockefeller I ...

approach, targeting research with the highest probability of preventing, slowing or reversing Alzheimer's disease.Charity Navigator

Accessed 5 March 2014. The board of directors covers all operating costs so that all donations go entirely to research.

History

Cure Alzheimer's Fund (also known as Alzheimer's Disease Research Foundation) was founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Morby,

Jacqui Morby Jacqui is a given name, usually a diminutive form of Jacqueline or Jacquelyn. Notable people with the name include: *Jacqui Abbott (born 1973), female lead singer with the band ''The Beautiful South'' *Jacqui Ainsley (born 1981), English model fro ...

, Henry McCance, and Phyllis Rappaport as a way to fund research of Alzheimer's disease. Its CEO is Timothy Armour. The board of directors also includes investment banker Robert Greenhill, founder of Greenhill & Co. During 2021, Cure Alzheimer's Fund received $28.2 million through 24,000 donations. As of April 2022, the organization has funded 615 research projects, for more than $145 million.Cure Alzheimer's Fund
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Events

Symposium

Cure Alzheimer's Fund webinars throughout the calendar year. Recent presenters have included Drs. Rudy Tanzi, David Holtzman, Robert Vassar, and Erik Musiek

Funded research programs

Cure Alzheimer's Fund's research objective is to support studies that will bring forward a further understanding of Alzheimer's disease and/or a development of treatment. As a non-profit, CAF provides grants to the world's leading researchers. All projects are based upon Cure Alzheimer's roadmap of discovery. This roadmap includes four steps needed to develop effective therapies: foundational genetics,

translational research Translational research (also called translation research, translational science, or, when the context is clear, simply translation) is research aimed at translating (converting) results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans. ...

, drug discovery, and drug development.

Alzheimer's Genome Project

The Alzheimer's Genome ProjectCure Alzheimer's Fund

Accessed March 5, 2014. (AGP) is one of CAF's longest continued projects, with approximately $9,041,400 in funding from 2005 to 2013 for research directed by Rudolph Tanzi, Ph.D., of

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

and

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

. Its objective is to evaluate new Alzheimer's disease gene candidates for effects on Alzheimer's pathology and related biological pathways. ''Phase I'' of the AGP focused on identifying all genes that contribute significant risk for Alzheimer's disease, thereby identifying more targets for the development of therapeutic interventions. ''Phase I'' was completed in 2008, with the identification of the novel Alzheimer's genes ADAM10, ATXN1, and CD33. ''Phase II'' of the AGP entails the functional analysis of these genes. ''Phase III'' of the AGP focuses on the processing and sequencing of the complete genomes, then identifying all DNA variants in the genome that directly influence risk of Alzheimer's disease. From there, all of the biologically relevant genomes that may cause Alzheimer's can be identified and targeted for the development of therapeutic treatments. The Alzheimer's Genome Project was the largest single disease scan of all time and was considered one of the top ten medical breakthroughs in the world in 2008 by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine.

Charity assessment

The board of directors covers all operating costs so that all donations go entirely to research. In 2018, the annual compensation of the president/CEO was $238,131 (1.25% of expenses). Cure Alzheimer's Fund has a maximum rating of 4 stars (out of 4) from

Charity Navigator Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations based in the United States, operating as a free 501(c)(3) organization. It provides insights into a nonprofit’s financial s ...

, with an overall score of 98.23/100 for financial, accountability and transparency.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://curealz.org/ Mental health organizations in Massachusetts Alzheimer's and dementia organizations