The Rutgers Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center has received a $1.5 million philanthropic gift from the Norman and Mary Pattiz Foundation to establish a physician-scientist research program. The gift will support early disease detection and drug development to advance dementia treatment.
The program, led by Michal Schnaider Beeri, director of the Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center in the Rutgers Brain Health Institute and Core Member of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, is designed to accelerate discovery to treatment in dementia.
The program will train physician-scientists to focus on drug development and early disease detection when intervention has the greatest potential to alter long-term outcomes. By advancing innovative patient-focused research, Rutgers Health physician-scientists involved in the program aim to strengthen the dementia research ecosystem and improve treatment for individuals at risk or with Alzheimer’s disease in New Jersey and throughout the United States.
With more than 7 million Americans ages 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s dementia, the Norman and Mary Pattiz Foundation’s gift underscores the critical role of philanthropy in driving innovative research. New Jersey has an estimated 185,000 residents living with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the most recent statewide data. This number is expected to rise significantly over the coming years, according to the website Alzheimer’s Impact Movement.
“Support like this allows us to train physician-scientists who can translate cutting-edge discoveries into meaningful treatments in dementia,” said Beeri.
The Norman and Mary Pattiz Foundation was founded by Norman and Mary Pattiz, who built successful careers in radio broadcasting. As philanthropists, they supported causes in education, science, health and animal welfare. Their gift reflects this commitment to advancing research and improving lives.
At Rutgers, Beeri and her team lead the Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center, where the mission is to delay, prevent and treat Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative diseases through innovative studies and clinical collaborations.
The center integrates deep phenotyping and epidemiological research to identify genetic, physiological, social, and environmental factors that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease, and links these insights with fundamental research to accelerate the discovery of new treatments for people living with this devastating disease.
Rutgers is home to world-renowned leaders in brain health and in the mentorship of young physicians, including Michele Pato, director of the Center for Psychiatric Health and Genomics and professor of psychiatry in both Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School, and Zhiping Pang, director of the Center for NeuroMetabolism and Henry Rutgers Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, who will join Beeri to ensure the success of this program.
“The physician-scientist program will not only advance innovative research but help transform the landscape of dementia care for years to come,” said Beeri.
