Tech Researchers Work to Cure Alzheimer’s Disease
by Enrique Rangel
Austin Bureau

2007

AUSTIN - Texas is third in the nation in Alzheimer's cases, behind California and Florida.
But if Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and three other Texas research centers are successful in their work, the Lone Star State will make a lot of progress in the early diagnosis of the disease and improvements in patient care and quality of life.
That was one of the main conclusions a panel of experts agreed on Tuesday morning at a capitol press conference.

"Before too long we will deliver the results we anticipated," Dr. Randolph "Randy" Schieffer, said. "At Texas Tech in the West, the environment is powerful."
Schieffer is the Vernon and Elizabeth Haggerton Chair in Neurology. He also chairs the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

He joined Rachelle Doody of Baylor College of Medicine, Roger Rosenberg of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Janice Knebl of the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

The four institutions form the Texas Alzheimer's Research Consortium. The consortium received $2 million in the last legislative session and is now seeking $4 million from lawmakers to expand its research.

And though no money has been appropriated yet, the group has the support from some powerful legislators, including senators Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock and Jane Nelson, a Lewisville Republican who chairs the Senate Health & Human Services Committee, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

"Alzheimer's is such a tragic disease which has painfully affected so many families, including my own," Dewhurst said. "That's why I want to see more state and private dollars going into research to find the promise of improved treatment."
Duncan offered similar encouragement.

"It is critical we continue to build on that momentum and support the ground-breaking work of the Texas Alzheimer's Research Consortium," he said in a statement. "Together, we have reached a milestone in the Legislature on behalf of Alzheimer's research, but there is more work to be done."

Later in the day, Dewhurst, Duncan, Nelson and Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, received awards from the Alzheimer's Association, Capital of Texas, Houston and Southeast Texas chapters. The four lawmakers secured the first state funding of $2 million for Alzheimer's research in Texas history in the 2005 legislative session.
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enrique.rangel@morris.com 512-673-7553

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