FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   Contact:

November 27, 2012                                                 Karen Shuler Stakem: 304-218-8354

                                                                                     kss@thegoodwingroup.com

BLANCHETTE ROCKEFELLER DIRECTOR NAMED TO NATIONAL ALZHEIMER'S EXPERT PANEL

Morgantown, W.Va. -  Helen Matheny, Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Outreach and Registry Program at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) at West Virginia University, has been selected to participate on an expert panel that will report to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease.  The panel will convene this Thursday.

Matheny is one of 35 individuals selected nationwide from key public and private stakeholders with recognized subject matter expertise in Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias.  This expert panel will focus on developing dementia-specific guidelines and curricula for all provider groups across the care spectrum.  Also, the group will seek to identify information about available resources to educate physicians and other health care providers about accessing long-term services and supports related to Alzheimer’s Disease.

In August 2011, United States Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appointed Matheny to serve as one of 11 non federal members of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services.  The Council advises the Secretary on how to prevent or reduce the burden of Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias on people with these conditions and their caregivers. The Council presented the first National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease to Secretary Sebelius and members of Congress in May.

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The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) is a unique, independent, non-profit institute dedicated to the study of memory and finding solutions to memory disorders.  BRNI was founded in 1999 in memory of Blanchette Ferry Hooker Rockefeller, an Alzheimer's patient and mother of U. S. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV.  BRNI is operated in alliance with West Virginia University as well as in collaboration with other academic institutions.