Colorado family donates $6 million to fight Alzheimer’s
Jun 6, 2012, 3:04 PM | Updated: 4:05 pm
PHOENIX – The Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation is celebrating the generosity of Jerre and May Joy Stead from Englewood, Colo.
The couple donated $6 million to the foundation. That money is now being for an experimental Alzheimer’s immunization that is being studied by the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute.
“I think that they decided that this is an investment worth making and that it will save people’s lives,” said Dr. Pierre Tariot, executive director for the institute.
The large donation is only the beginning of a campaign to raise $40 million for the institute that will go to fund Alzheimer’s research and treatment.
Earlier this year, the federal government said they will help step up efforts to and fundraising to treat the disease. The experimental vaccine is part of that. Preliminary experiments for the new drug will start in about one year.
