In May, NACDS Foundation Chairman and NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson was recognized as a 2022 Regional Honoree at the Alzheimer’s Association Brain Ball in Washington, DC.
Launched in 2014, the Brain Ball aims to elevate the profile of Alzheimer’s and its devastating toll on America’s families and caregivers facing the daily challenges of the disease. Since its inception, the Brain Ball has honored leaders in the fight to end Alzheimer’s and raised nearly $9 million to benefit the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Anderson delivered remarks upon accepting the award, emphasizing the great strides that have been made to end Alzheimer’s, NACDS members’ heroic and ongoing work to deliver COVID-19-related care and access to the American people, and the hope this progress inspires as the nation continues in its fight against severe diseases:
“I have no doubt and I hold great hope that we will end Alzheimer’s. COVID-19 showed us the fragility of life … On Wednesday, May 4, the United States surpassed one million COVID-19 deaths. This is an unfathomable scale of loss even for the United States, with the world’s highest recorded death toll from this virus.
“However, with all this tragedy that we have lived through for more than two years, we sit here with a feeling of hope, because scientists worked together to harness new technology, including messenger RNA, to develop the vaccines that are giving us hope for our families and for ourselves.
“Thanks to the leadership of the NACDS members, retail pharmacies have provided 250 million COVID-19 vaccinations to date, millions of COVID-19 tests, and important access to COVID-19 therapies. Currently, pharmacies are giving two of every three COVID-19 shots. I tell you this because the same technology, mRNA, gives me hope in the fight against other diseases.”
Anderson continued, saying, “We are also fortunate to have other new technologies which gives us hope to end Alzheimer’s. This is through artificial intelligence.
“For example, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital have developed an AI-based method to screen currently available medicines as possible treatments for Alzheimer’s. The method could represent a rapid and inexpensive way to re-purpose existing therapies into new treatments for Alzheimer’s. It could also help to reveal new and unexplored targets for therapies by pointing to mechanisms for drug action.
“When I think of these technological advancements and our reasons for hope early in Alzheimer’s, I am reminded of my favorite quote by Albert Einstein: ‘Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.’”
Please watch the attached video to see how Alzheimer’s Disease has impacted Anderson’s family.
