Alzheimer’s disease robs patients of their intellect and personality and is recognized as having an increasingly devastating impact on human health and well being. Because the risk of the disorder increases with age, and because people are living longer, the human and economic impact could very well overwhelm our family, community, and health care systems.

In 2007, the U.S. crossed the threshold of 5 million individuals suffering with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). With an aging population, more effective diagnosis of dementia, and increasing risk factors for Alzheimer’s, the number of affected individuals will continue to increase reaching an estimated 16 million by mid-century, more than the current population of New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston combined. We are facing a scenario of massive populations of individuals housed in nursing homes for decades of their lives. In recent years, a sufficient accumulation of basic science discoveries has made it possible to begin for the first time the development of rational treatments that have the potential to prevent, delay onset, or cure Alzheimer’s.