The Fremont Area Alzheimer’s Collaboration (FAAC) has once again come through for the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
The FAAC has made a $25,000 donation to the University of Nebraska Foundation to help fund clinical research in Alzheimer’s disease at UNMC. This latest gift brings total FAAC support to UNMC to more than $100,000 over the past five years.
Marv Welstead, a 96-year-old Fremont man who lost his wife, Jean, in 2009 after an eight-year battle with Alzheimer’s, is honorary chairperson of the FAAC. Jason McDermott, owner of Caring Senior Service of Fremont, is the fundraising chairperson..
The money was raised through the annual Fremont Area Alzheimer’s Walk, as well as through online gifts and memorials. This year’s walk is scheduled for Sept. 30. For more information about the walk, contact Kim Henrichs-Suey, (402) 753-2078, or Riley Faulkner, (402) 721-1616, or go to http://alzheimers-fremont.org/. Faulkner is president of the FAAC.
There also will be a golf tournament sponsored by the Nye Legacy in Fremont. The tournament will be held Sept. 29 at the North Bend Golf Course with half of the proceeds going toward the FAAC. For more information, call 402-721-9300.
“Marv Welstead’s vision for supporting Alzheimer’s disease research in the region and improving awareness and knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease has been realized due to his tireless efforts,” said Dan Murman, M.D., professor and vice chair of clinical and translational research in the UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences.
“The department is grateful for the tremendous support we have received from the FAAC to support clinical and translational research. This support is invaluable for new programs and young investigators to start their research endeavors.”
Welstead said 60 percent of the monies raised by the FAAC goes to institutions conducting cutting-edge research in Alzheimer’s disease, and the remaining 40 percent is given as grants to support caregiver education and programming in the Fremont area.
To date, the FAAC money given to UNMC has been used to:
- Help build an infrastructure for clinical trial research and help establish the Mind and Brain Health Registry, both of which are continuing to grow, Dr. Murman said.
- Fund a grant to Sachin Kedar, M.B.B.S., to help the Mind and Brain Health Lab purchase an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) machine for retinal imaging of neurologic disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease.
- Fund a grant to David Warren, Ph.D., to use functional MRI to image the neuronal networks involved in memory, both in normal subjects and in those with memory disorders. In addition, Dr. Warren is investigating the potential for neurostimulation and neuromodulation to improve memory.
- Support a collaborative pilot project using transcranial Doppler to measure early changes in cerebrovascular reactivity in those with Alzheimer’s. This project is being led by Greg Bashford, Ph.D., and graduate student, Mohammed Alwatban, both from the Biological Systems Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with subjects recruited at UNMC.
Dr. Murman said projects that will be supported by the most recent FAAC grant have not yet been determined.
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