Quilters Award $60,000 to Mount Sinai School of Medicine

(Burton, Michigan) -- May 21, 2013: The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) has awarded a $60,000 grant to Mount Sinai School of Medicine to study a drug which may decrease the production of amyloid in the brain and increase the "birth" of new brain cells. The drug is currently being tested in humans for other conditions. Should the AAQI-funded study show promising results in mice, it is hoped the drug can be tested in Alzheimer's patients. The research will be carried out by Dr. Michelle E. Ehrlich, professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. This is the 15th grant the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative has awarded since it began in 2006 and the 4th grant award this year. These grants are made possible, in large part, by the money raised from the sale of donated quilts. To support the AAQI's mission by purchasing a quilt, visit www.alzquilts.org/quiltsforsale.html A small wall quilt stitched by AAQI Board member Kathy Kennedy-Dennis of Houston, TX was presented to Dr. Erlich on behalf of the Alzheimeimer's Art Quilt Initiative by quilter Paula Nadelstern of New York, NY. Please see AAQI Update Blog for more details about the quilt presentation. The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative is a national charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI has raised more than $916,000 for Alzheimer’s research since January 2006. Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan is the founder and executive director of the AAQI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Her mother had Alzheimer’s. This is the last year the AAQI will be fundraising. For more information about the AAQI or to make a donation, contact Ami Simms at 810-637-5586 (9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Eastern), ami@alzquilts.org or www.alzquilts.org.

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Contact:
Ami Simms
Founder and Executive Director
Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative
1200 Creekwood Trail
Burton, MI 48509
(810) 637-5586

AAQI Awards Three Grants in One Month

Last month the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) awarded three research grants, the most awarded in a single month since the AAQI became a nonprofit in 2008.

• $40,894 was awarded to Texas A & M Health Science Center to explore the connection between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. The research will be conducted by Ian V.J. Murray, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics; and Carmen Ramirez, M.D., M.Sc., Assistant Professor, Texas A & M Health Science Center.
• $35,000 was awarded to The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to understand why some individuals remain cognitively intact despite the presence of abundant plaques and tangles (the hallmark signs of Alzheimer's) in their brains. The research will be conducted by Nicole L. Bjorklund, Ph.D., National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Postdoctoral Trainee.
• $38,354 was awarded to Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, to identify and target molecular mechanisms of cell death in the Alzheimer’s brain. The research will be conducted by Lucian Soane, M.D., Research Associate.

The AAQI has funded 14 research studies to date. These grants are made possible, in large part, by the money raised from the sale of donated quilts. For more in depth explanation of the funded research see www.alzquilts.org/researchawards.html.
Purchase quilts online at www.alzquilts.org/quiltsforsale.html The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative is a national charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI has raised more than $894,000 for Alzheimer’s research since January 2006. Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan is the founder and executive director of the AAQI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Her mother had Alzheimer’s. This is the last year the AAQI will be fundraising. For more information about the AAQI or to make a donation, contact Ami Simms at 810-637-5586 (9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Eastern), ami@alzquilts.org or www.alzquilts.org.

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Contact:
Ami Simms
Founder and Executive Director
Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative
1200 Creekwood Trail
Burton, MI 48509
(810) 637-5586 Photo Caption:
Dr. Carmen Ramirez, Lab Manager Janelle Fawver, and Dr. Ian V. J. Murray are presented with a check and a quilt from the AAQI at Texas A & M. See blog post.