WORLD-RENOWNED SCIENTISTS CONVENE TO SHARE GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH ON ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE, MEMORY AND AGING

Morgantown, W.Va. — Today, the new $30 million Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) research headquarters located on the campus of West Virginia University and founded in honor of U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller's mother, will play host to prominent international scientists who have achieved breakthroughs in their research on Alzheimer’s disease and other memory disorders. The first-ever International Forum on Memory and Memory Disorders will highlight the work of nine celebrated scientists whose research has advanced the study of the aging brain, Alzheimer’s disease, and patients suffering from memory loss and memory disorders. The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute is the only research institute in the world dedicated to both an understanding of how human memory works and advancing new discoveries that that can identify, treat and repair damages from diseases and disorders that impact human memory.

Tomorrow, on October 17, BRNI will open its doors to the public for the official dedication ceremony of its new research facility. The approximately 78,000 square foot three-level building will provide state-of-the-art laboratory space and support research activities for 125 scientists and researchers working on the mission to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease and other memory disorders.

"This is an important moment not just for West Virginia, but for the entire world. Unfortunately, this devastating disease has impacted the lives of 46,000 West Virginians and is affecting at least 5.1 million people in the United States, and more than 26 million people around the world*," said Senator Rockefeller. "There is a tremendous urgency to find a cure for this debilitating disease. Funding research for early detection has and continues to be our top priority. The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute has spent nearly $95 million since its inception to advance research on Alzheimer's disease and other memory disorders. I know the pain felt when losing a loved one to Alzheimer's. Thanks to the work of BRNI's scientists, I am hopeful there will come a time that no one will ever have to experience the pain of losing a loved one to any memory disorder."

The prestigious list of scientists chosen to share their research is an international mix of experts from Switzerland, to Harvard Medical School, to West Virginia University and includes:
Professor Floyd Bloom, Professor Emeritus and Chairman of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Institute, Professor Andrew Matus, Director, Emeritus Neurobiology, Friedrich Miescher Institute, Novartis Research Foundation, Switzerland, Professor Howard Eichenbaum, Director, Center for Memory, Boston University, Professor Tracy Shors, Department of Psychology, Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Dr. Daniel Alkon, Scientific Director, Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute at West Virginia University, Professor Rudi Tanzi, Director, Genetics and Aging Unit, Harvard Medical School, Professor Sangram Sisodia, Director, Center for Brain Disease, University of Chicago, Professor James Stevenson, Chairman, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, West Virginia University School of Medicine and Professor Carol Barnes, Director, Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, The University of Arizona.

“This Forum embodies the unique approach that BRNI is pursuing in its research around human memory and memory disorders -- to communicate and disseminate an understanding of how memory works and how it becomes dysfunctional and share that research with others so that we can inform and learn new insights," said Dr. Daniel Alkon, Scientific Director of BRNI. "We have discovered that Alzheimer's disease is a disease of the memory process itself and we are already conducting lifesaving research to combat the disease. We have discovered that Broystatin, and a related class of drugs discovered at BRNI and administered 24 hours after a stroke can rescue and repair brain tissue. This meeting of the minds will offer new insights into the study of memory disorders and help us become one step closer in finding a cure."
Tomorrow, Senator Rockefeller will officially dedicate the new $30 million BRNI research facility to an audience of local researchers, scientists, physicians, students and dignitaries. Local families personally affected by Alzheimer's and other memory disorders will share their stories. In celebration of the dedication of the new facility, a first-day-of-issue stamp dedication for the Alzheimer's Awareness 42-cent social awareness first-class stamp will follow the dedication ceremony. U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors Vice Chairman Carolyn Lewis Gallagher will unveil the stamp and present it to Senator Rockefeller. 

Sponsors of the International Forum on Memory and Memory Disorders include: The West Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association, the Park Corporation, Suddenlink, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, United Airlines, Verizon and AT&T.
The only non-profit independent institution in the world dedicated to the study of human memory and memory disorders, BRNI was established by Rockefeller in 1999 in honor of his mother, Blanchette, who was afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease. The Institute’s scientific exploration of memory and memory disorders has led to recent discoveries with a drug – Bryostatin – shown to create new connections in the brain, among other revolutionary findings. BRNI’s work expands and advances the scientific research of memory and memory disorders for the purposes of prevention, diagnosis and treatment, with the goal of moving research out of the laboratory and into the hands of physicians and patients.

For more information on the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute or on the International Forum or Dedication Ceremony activities, please visit www.brni.org.

*Source: Alzheimer's Association and West Virginia Alzheimer's Association

About Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute:
Created in 1999, BRNI is the world’s only non-profit institute dedicated to the study of both human memory and diseases of memory. Its primary mission is to accelerate neurological discoveries from the lab, including diagnostic tools and treatments, to the clinic where it can benefit patients who suffer from neurological and psychiatric diseases.
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. West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller founded the Institute in memory of his mother, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller, who died of Alzheimer's disease.