Federal Alzheimer's Research Defunded
The Roy Blunt Alzheimer's research center at the National Institutes of Health has had its budget slashed as part of the ongoing random cost-cutting program. The center does research on what now-retired Senator Blunt (R - MO) called "our most expensive disease."
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It’s so freaking unacceptable on so many levels💕💙It’s not political, it’s science, it’s people’s lives and we are getting so close for our future generations.
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For further details, see the following article.
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I'm so disappointed to see a link to Rachel Maddow on this site…we all have enough troubles dealing with caregiving…no place for politics here.
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Rachel Maddow is actually journalism, not politics.
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This shouldn’t be considered political. This is factual news we all want to know about. I don’t care if its Rachel Maddox or Fox. Facts are facts and I didn’t realize it had happened until it was shared. Let’s not fall into anger over a link sharing facts.
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Facts? Those type of events are profit-driven rating focused politically tilted "shows" not "journalism" in my opinion .
And don't always fair well in the courts :
Here's a link from the actual clinic involved:
https://card.nih.gov/job-training-opportunities/card-careers
Ask yourself when you listen to a person talking on the screen how much is froth and how much is researched fact and not casting shade.
I suggest you contact your congressperson and senators and say you want the funding for CARD,and other Alz research programs restored and increased. Lobbying rather than hating gets us where we want, no?
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I apologize for my ignorance. I did not realize that Rachel Maddow was a controversial source for factual news. In a google search of articles in the "News" area with the text "Blunt Alzheimer's Clinic", I only see links to what are probably now considered radical, left-wing news sources (i.e. ABC News, MSN, etc). I would have loved to have posted a link to an article by Fox News on this subject, but alas, I was unable to find that they are covering this story.
The bottom line of the story is that the new administration is cutting staff at a program helping lead the U.S. effort in Alzheimer's Research (including the new Director who was specifically recruited for the position). I would have guessed that of all the people on the planet, the members of this forum would be highly interested in research in Alzheimer's Disease. I stand corrected.
I would expect the Alzheimer's Association to have a comment on this cut. For example, see the 2018 press release from the Alzheimer's Association regarding a bill sponsored by Senator Roy Blunt for a $423M increase to the budget for Alzheimer's research. Side note - this is the same Roy Blunt as in the Blunt Alzheimer Clinic now in the news. I apologize up front if any find this the following link offensive, but I will note the link is internal to the Alzheimer's Association (the sponsor of this forum).2 -
I saw a post on social media this week that there were cuts being made at the NIH. My husband died in August from Alzheimer's and I have been fighting cancer since 2017 so this worried me greatly. Also my daughter works for a major cancer hospital that receives funding for cancer research So I decided to look into it myself and get some facts. Here's what I found:
NIH NEW research grants have been suspended temporarily for review. The review will be quick & proper funding will resume. Old grants already approved will not be cut unless they find fraud.
There were other cuts but only for INDIRECT costs such as administrative & overhead. NO cuts for actual research have been or will be made. Just the bloated overhead. This will mean more funding for actual research.
The Neurosciences group that does Alzheimer's research had a director who was fired by the former administration in Sept 2024 after a 9 month investigation into research misconduct. The interim person was declared acting director internally but not by the administration and was never confirmed even as "acting". He was fired recently along with 10 other administrative employees of the 100 administrative employees in the NIH Neurosciences Division which oversees research grants for Alzheimer's, Dementia & other brain diseases. None of these 11 employees had anything to do with research. There will probably be a new director named shortly.
All of this info is readily available online.
So if you hear anything about this, don't worry. We have enough to worry about. Pray for a cure for this terrible disease. 🙏
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the truth: I saw a post on social media this week that there were cuts being made at the NIH. My husband died in August from Alzheimer's and I have been fighting cancer since 2017 so this worried me greatly. Also my daughter works for a major cancer hospital that receives funding for cancer research So I decided to look into it myself and get some facts. Here's what I found:
NIH NEW research grants have been suspended temporarily for review. The review will be quick & proper funding will resume. Old grants already approved will not be cut unless they find fraud.
There were other cuts but only for INDIRECT costs such as administrative & overhead. NO cuts for actual research have been or will be made. Just the bloated overhead. This will mean more funding for actual research.
The Neurosciences group that does Alzheimer's research had a director who was fired by the former administration in Sept 2024 after a 9 month investigation into research misconduct. The interim person was declared acting director internally but not by the administration and was never confirmed even as "acting". He was fired recently along with 10 other administrative employees of the 100 administrative employees in the NIH Neurosciences Division which oversees research grants for Alzheimer's, Dementia & other brain diseases. None of these 11 employees had anything to do with research. There will probably be a new director named shortly.
All of this info is readily available online.
So if you hear anything about this, don't worry. We have enough to worry about. Pray for a cure for this terrible disease. 🙏
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My comment: "Lobbying rather than hating gets us where we want, no? "
got 2 flags. Well played.
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Ouch! I'll keep my mouth shut from now on…
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and here we are again …. A thread that has evolved into political posts that set all of us on edge no matter what our political leanings are. Stop. This is a forum for dementia support. We all have to be comfortable here.
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We all have a lot of reason to be interested in the research, but these cuts are very early in the process. More money doesn't necessarily mean better outcome. You can look at many programs and see that. I think we should Lobby for outcome and remember that we are here for support and to support each other. I value the comments on here and hope no leaves the form over a disagreement.
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I'm sad
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