While all of the efforts at Johns Hopkins to advance our understanding of Alzheimer's Disease and to develop new techniques to diagnose and treat this debilitating disease are proceeding at a record pace, we have more leads than resources with which to pursue them. Financial support is needed to continue these efforts. Some people have given direct donations, some left us money as a bequeath, and some have asked that memorial donations be sent in lieu of flowers. Each donation has helped us explore new avenues of research, and each is a poignant reminder of the human cost of this disease. Importantly, this private giving has provided us with the opportunity to make real advances in our understanding of Alzheimer's Disease.

Those of you wishing to support research into Alzheimer's Disease neuropathology, animal models, and new treatments, may do so by sending your tax-deductible contribution payment to The Johns Hopkins University at:

The Johns Hopkins University
ATTN: Elaine Delman - Neuropathology
720 Rutland Avenue, Ross 558
Baltimore, MD 21205

If you have any questions about how you can help support the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, do not hesitate to give us a call: 410-502-5164.

Click one of the links below to learn more:

• Donald L. Price Fund Campaign

  The Department of Pathology is pleased to announce a campaign to endow a fund in honor of Donald L. Price, M.D. This fund will be used to support young scientists in the Division of Neuropathology. To learn more about this exciting initiative, click here.

  To donate, click here.

• In Lieu of Flowers

  We have received a number of donations in lieu of flowers. This is a wonderful way to both honor a loved one and to help fight this terrible disease. These donations are made at very difficult times, and we therefore wanted to simplify the process. If you have lost a loved one and would like donations sent to Hopkins to help battle this disease in lieu of flowers, all you need to do is:
  
  A. Ask the donor to:
  i.Make donations payable to: "Johns Hopkins University."
  
  ii.Indicate on the memo line of the check the name of the individual in whose memory the donation is being made.
  
  iii.Mail the donation to:
  The Johns Hopkins University
  Department of Pathology/Ross 558
  720 Rutland Avenue
  Baltimore, MD 21205
  
  ATTN: Elaine Delman
  
  B. Please indicate the name and address of where you would like acknowledgments to be sent. When we receive memorial donations, we send a thank you to the donor and we also send a complete list of the names and address of the donors to the relative of the deceased. We realize that the death of a loved one is extremely difficult. We hope these simplified instructions will help those of you who wish to honor your loved one with bequests to Johns Hopkins for Alzheimer's Disease research.

• Online Credit Card Donations
  To donate by credit card online, follow the 5 easy steps outlined below. Please read them all before starting.
  
  1. Click on the "donate by credit card" link above. The Johns Hopkins Pathology Online Giving Form will open in a new browser window. This is a secure site where all donations to Johns Hopkins are collected.
  
  2. Write the dollar amount of your contribution in the box corresponding to "Alzheimer's Disease Research"
  
  3. Scroll down the page and click on "Add to Cart".
  
  4. Make sure that the contribution is what you really want, and click "Checkout".
  
  5. Fill in the requested information and click "Submit".

  To donate to the Ilanna Starr Scholar Fund, please give us a call: 410-502-5164.

• Endowed Chair for Alzheimer's Disease Research

  The last five years have brought remarkable advances to our understanding of the cause of Alzheimer's disease. Indeed, the recent discovery by the team at Hopkins that a particular enzyme (BACE1) plays a key role in the neuronal changes in Alzheimer disease provides an exciting new target for therapy. Simply put, our growing understanding of the fundamental nature of Alzheimer's disease is opening up entire new avenues of research and the development of new rational treatments.
  
  The establishment of an endowed chair for Alzheimer disease research would allow us to pursue high-risk creative research work. We believe this work will advance our understanding of Alzheimer disease, not by small steps, but instead by leaps and bounds. All to often, scientists focus their efforts on "evolutionary" work because it is safer, and more of a sure bet. Endowed chairs allow scientists to pursue revolutionary work. In addition, because endowed chairs are permanent, named chairs are a wonderful way of permanently honoring the donor. To learn more about creating a named endowed chair, please call 410-502-5164.
  
  The cost for a named endowed chair is $2.5 million.

• Endowed Fellowship Training Program: New Technologies in Alzheimer's Disease Research

  Physicians and scientists must make critical decisions when they come to the end of their standard training. They must decide whether or not to pursue an academic career in research. Those who choose a career in research must then choose a sub-specialty area on which to focus their research efforts. These critical career choices are often made for rather trivial reasons. Countless physicians and scientists with enormous potential have chosen not pursue an academic research career because of a lack of a secure fellowship program.
  
  At the same time, young minds are the most creative minds. Human creativity peaks at a rather young age; as our fund of knowledge increases our creativity paradoxically decreases. Indeed, some of the major new ideas in cancer research in the last several years have come from young scientists in their training. For example, Victor Velculescu here at Johns Hopkins created the idea for the revolutionary technology of serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE). Victor did this while he was a post-doctoral student in the Johns Hopkins cancer research laboratories.
  
  We propose to create an endowed fellowship-training program in Alzheimer's disease research at Hopkins. This program will provide secured funding to young scientists and physicians wishing to pursue a career in Alzheimer disease research. The research fellowship program will not be a standard fellowship program. Instead it will take advantage of and most importantly encourage the creativity of the trainees. The fellow will not be a mere technician following detailed instructions from a mentor. Instead, the fellows will be given extensive free time and the fellowship will be focused on creating novel new technologies that can be applied to cancer research and on identifying new technologies, developed in other fields, which can be applied to Alzheimer disease research.
  
  This approach will bring more minds to the battle against Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, the focus on creative spark will mean that our understanding will advance not in safe yet small steps, but rather in daring leaps.
  
  The cost for a named endowed fellowship is $1.7 million.
  

  To learn more about creating a fellowship, please call 410-502-5164.

• Planned Giving

  A number of people have asked how they can make a bequest and about other forms of planned giving. Planned giving can be a wonderful way to support pancreatic cancer research. Depending on the arrangements you choose you can also:
  
  - Reduce your income taxes
  - Get more favorable capital gains tax treatment
  - Increase your spendable income
  - Retain payments for life
  - Achieve no-cost, worry-free asset management
  
  
  To learn more about planned giving opportunities visit http://jhu.plannedgifts.org/ways_to_give.html or contact the Planned Giving Office at Johns Hopkins:
  
  John C. Jeppi
  Gift Planning Advisor
  Phone: (410) 516-7550 or (800) 548-1268
  jjeppi@jhu.edu