The Rutgers Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center has received a $1.5 million philanthropic gift from the Norman and Mary Pattiz Foundation to establish a physician-scientist research program.
The program, as part of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute, will train physician-scientists to focus on new drug development and early disease detection when intervention has the greatest potential to alter long-term outcomes. By advancing innovative patient-focused research, Rutgers Health physician-scientists involved in the program aim to strengthen the dementia research ecosystem and improve treatment for individuals at risk or with Alzheimer’s disease in New Jersey and throughout the United States.
Director of the research center Michal Schnaider Berri praised the commitment.
“Support like this allows us to train physician-scientists who can translate cutting-edge discoveries into meaningful treatments in dementia,” she said. “We are committed to making the program shine and ensuring that it translates scientific discoveries into real-world impact.”
With more than 7 million Americans ages 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s dementia, the Norman and Mary Pattiz Foundation’s gift underscores the critical role of philanthropy in driving innovative research.
At Rutgers, Beeri and her team lead the Alzheimer’s Research Center, where the mission is to delay, prevent and treat Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative diseases through innovative studies and clinical collaborations. The center integrates deep phenotyping and epidemiological research to identify genetic, physiological, social, and environmental factors that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease, and links these insights with fundamental research to accelerate the discovery of new treatments for people living with this devastating disease.
