Research Facilities

Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) is the only research institute in the world dedicated to both understanding how human memory works and advancing new discoveries that can identify, treat and repair damages from diseases and disorders that cause the loss of human memory.

Our $30 million BRNI research headquarters at West Virginia University, will allow the Institute to expand and continue this important scientific work.

This 78,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility, located on the Health Sciences Center campus was dedicated in October 2009. The BRNI facility will, at full capacity, have the necessary space to support the research activities of up to 125 scientists and staff. Since its inception, BRNI has spent nearly $95 million to advance research on Alzheimer's disease and other memory disorders.

Locating the facility in West Virginia was of particular importance to the Institute. The primary risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is aging and West Virginia has the highest average age in the nation. During the next 25 years the state's elderly population is projected to grow by 60 percent.

BRNI is operated in alliance with West Virginia University in Morgantown as well as in collaboration with other academic institutions such as Johns Hopkins University. United States Senator Jay Rockefeller founded the Institute in memory of his mother, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller, who died of Alzheimer’s disease.