L.I.F.E. Foundation gifts $5 million to UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute

A local foundation focused on improving health outcomes for patients with brain and neurodegenerative diseases has made a $5 million gift to the University of Cincinnati Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Disease Research at the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute.

This donation from the L.I.F.E. Foundation invests in research pilot funding, an innovative brain health study and a one-year fellowship training in neurodegenerative disease research. University of Cincinnati alumni and L.I.F.E. Foundation trustees, Carter F. Randolph, Bus ’79, MBA ’80, PhD ’86 and Louie Randolph, A&S ’11, said the gift honors the memory of L.I.F.E. Foundation co-founder George Wile and his wife, Elizabeth. Wile was a long-time supporter of the UC College of Medicine and a UC Foundation trustee.

“George Wile was an engineer through and through, always curious about how things worked,” Carter Randolph, president of the L.I.F.E. Foundation, said. “He was particularly fascinated by the brain and was a true advocate for better health outcomes, particularly for patients with brain and neurodegenerative disease. We are honored to continue George's legacy and contribute to pioneering prevention work being done at UC.”

The gift from the L.I.F.E. Foundation creates two funds supporting research:

• The George Wile Pilot Program Fund will allow UC researchers to pursue novel research projects that can yield breakthrough discoveries as well as data needed to secure external funding sources. Pilot grants are significant because they can lead to grants from the National Institutes of Health and other foundation. Recent pilot grants from other sources have resulted in a 17 to 1 return on investment from other funders to the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute.
  
  
• The L.I.F.E Brain Health Study Fund will support a large-scale longitudinal brain study aimed at identifying factors that are detrimental to normal brain health and thus may lead to the development of dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. This data will help researchers understand when or why diseases affecting memory and cognition begin, and how daily lifestyle modifications can delay or totally prevent their onset as well as promote resilience.

“This funding is essential to enhancing our understanding of dementia and memory disorders,” said Rhonna Shatz, DO, division director for behavioral neurology, the Bob and Sandy Heimann Endowed Chair in Research and Education in Alzheimer’s Disease in the UC College of Medicine and UC Health. “We’re developing tools that do more than support individual patient care—they also help us identify the critical questions that researchers need to explore.” 

As part of the region’s only adult academic medical center, the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute is uniquely positioned to change the course of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The Memory Care and Brain Health Center is pioneering new approaches to neurodegenerative disease by focusing on brain health at all stages of life.

The center’s vision is to become an Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC). A designation by the National Institutes of Health, ADRCs are centers that play a leading role in research and resources, offering clinical trials of treatments and care approaches to dementia.

“The L.I.F.E. Foundation is investing in the future and our ability to attain designation as an Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center,” said Brett Kissela, MD, director of the UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. “I think George and Elizabeth would be proud of this incredible investment that will make such a difference in our Cincinnati community and beyond.”

Featured image at top: Hyacinth I. Hyacinth, MBBS, PhD, MPH. Photo/Colleen Kelley for the UC Foundation.