Who We Are
USAgainstAlzheimer's is a community of engaged and enraged individuals who have been touched by Alzheimer's disease and are united by our frustration at a broken status quo. We are dedicated to mobilizing individuals to demand the urgency, passion and commitment needed by our political, business and civic leaders to achieve the goal of ending Alzheimer's by 2020.
USAgainstAlzheimer's consists of family members, caregivers and researchers who have seen the personal toll of Alzheimer's and understand that the fiscal and social costs of Alzheimer's will devastate our nation. We have seen loved ones in the prime of their lives—many as young as 40 or 50 years old—forget how to eat and care for their personal hygiene. We have seen mothers with young children caring for their own mothers and fathers, with barely a moment to breathe. And, we have seen people suffer over the course of a decade or longer, slowly losing one brain cell and one memory at a time.
Our Theory of Change and a Bold Operating Model
USAgainstAlzheimer's has a bold attitude and agile operating model. We are disrupting the sluggish ‘business as usual' pace of Alzheimer's progress.
Our theory of change is rooted in the strong belief that we, the American people, can create the national will to prevent and treat Alzheimer's by pressuring our political, business and civic leaders to devote the necessary resources to outcomes-oriented research and to reform the drug development systems that currently slow the development and availability of promising treatments. We call this "leadership for the cure." And it works.
In two short years, we and our sister organization USAgainstAlzheimer's have achieved the following:
- Successfully persuaded the White House and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to set a time-based goal to prevent and treat Alzheimer's by 2025 and create a national plan to achieve that goal.
- Secured appointment as one of twelve non-governmental members of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care and Services to advise on improvements to that plan.
- Leveraged personal and political relationships and a strong network of supporters to obtain commitments and proposals for an additional $169 million to fund Alzheimer's research through the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.
- Successfully effected the introduction in Congress of legislation specifically aimed at accelerating the development of life-enhancing and lifesaving therapies for Alzheimer's patients.
- Successfully advocated for the strengthening of Fast Track and Accelerated Review tools for the Food and Drug Administration to use for Alzheimer's therapies.
- Established an online network of more than 60,000 supporters and the fastest-growing social media presence in the Alzheimer's field.
- Convened Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer's disease, a coalition of over 50 Alzheimer's-serving organizations including non-profits and for-profit companies.
Organized ResearchersAgainstAlzheimer's to serve as the unified voice for the scientific and research community on the value of additional resources for Alzheimer's research.
- Helped organize a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing exploring the global burden of Alzheimer's disease.
Building Networks
We are moving forward with tremendous speed, success and momentum, and we are positioned to be a major catalyst in the effort to end Alzheimer's disease. To further accelerate our progress and ensure Alzheimer's receives the national attention it deserves, we are building networks of influencers and activists, initially in four categories: women, researchers, African-Americans and Latinos. Each network includes a target audience, its own unique programming and staff support. In time, we will add other networks of affected groups.
WomenAgainstAlzheimer's Network
connect women across the country in a united voice in the fight against Alzheimer's. We will leverage the collective influence of the WomenAgainstAlzheimer's Network in the government and media spheres to raise awareness and urgency around the Alzheimer's crisis.
ResearchersAgainstAlzheimer's
is a network of researchers launched in May 2012 to increase awareness about Alzheimer's disease and advocate for more research funding and reforms with the goal of stopping Alzheimer's disease by 2025. Over 220 researchers have signed our Statement of Beliefs toward a goal of 1000 signatories.
The AfricanAmericanNetworkAgainstAlzheimer's will create a network of engaged individuals and organizations to be the preeminent voice in and for the African American community on the issue of Alzheimer's disease and its disparate impact on African Americans.
LatinosAgainstAlzheimer's
will raise the profile of Alzheimer's disease and it's disparate impact on Latino's, the most rapidly growing segment of the American electorate, and demand the attention of policymakers.
