UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth has earned a $7 million grant to expand a study of Alzheimer's Disease. The grant from the National Institutes of Health is in addition to an earlier $45 million grant to look at biological reasons Hispanics are at greater risk for the disease than whites.
"It's a first-of-its-kind examination of the biological framework of Alzheimer's Disease, and how it differs between Mexican-Americans and non-Latino whites," says UNT Health Science Center President Michael Williams.
UNT Health Science Center will use the additional money to study why African Americans are at greater risk than both Hispanics and whites.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity for our African American community," Williams says. "The technology and comprehensiveness of these exams are extraordinary and second to none."
Williams says UNT Health Science Center will use the grant to recruit 1,000 African Americans who will undergo tests such as fMRIs and PET scans to try to find biological markers of Alzheimer's.
He says people who participate will then be able to bring their results to their primary care doctor to make plans for the future. Williams says most funding for Alzheimer's research is spent on non-Latino whites.
Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks says he and his siblings cared for their mother for six years when she had Alzheimer's.
"We watched daily as she descended into this pit of Alzheimer's Disease," he says. "One slowly loses contact with their environment, with the people they know and love."
UNT Health Science Center estimates 3.2 million Hispanics and 2.2 African Americans have Alzheimer's and related dementias.
"The investment aligns with HSC's commitment to confront racism as a public health emergency and to reduce racial health disparities," the school wrote in a statement.
UNT Health Science Center is looking for 1,000 African Americans to join the study. Williams says the study will help participants make better health care decisions and give the school more information to help researchers better understand how Alzheimer's differs across communities.
Information about the study is available through the Institute for Translational Research at (817) 735-2963.
