"We know too that, now more than ever, this effort will require the work of policymakers and partners," UK Board of Trustees Chair Britt Brockman said Wednesday, noting that the center — and its long-running research into dementia — will need support from across different sectors to continue its mission.
It's not a given that you're going to get renewed. You have to really make the case.Dr. Linda Van Eldik, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging director
Despite uncertainty on the national level, with the Trump administration seeking to slash funding for NIH grants, Sanders-Brown Director Dr. Linda Van Eldik is sounding cautiously hopeful that NIH dollars will continue to flow.
"It's not a given that you're going to get renewed. You have to really make the case and we just put in our renewal for the next five years," she told WUKY. "That will be reviewed in February or March, so we'll know then that we've gotten renewed. I have confidence. We're great. I think there's going to be no issues."
Van Eldik says research into dementia, and its most common form, Alzheimer's Disease, is yielding results — especially when it comes to testing for early signs.
"It's truly amazing how far we've come in five years," she added. "We now have FDA-approved blood tests, where you can just take a sample of blood and determine what's going on in your brain in terms of the pathologies. It can tell you you don't have Alzheimer's pathology building up in your brain, or you do and you might want to go see a specialist."
By the age of 85, close to half of people will suffer some form of cognitive impairment.