Grant lets Alzheimer's research continue

A research team led by University of Missouri biochemistry professors Grace Sun and Gary Weisman and University of Minnesota pharmacology professor W. Gibson Wood received a $6 million grant recently to continue researching different ways to prevent and cure Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia among older adults and affects areas of the brain that control memory, judgment, behavior and intelligence, according to the National Institutes of Health. The disease affects 7 percent to 10 percent of people older than 65 and more than 40 percent of those 80 or older. By 2050, 25 percent of the total population of the United States will be 65 or older.

"It's a problem," Sun said. "Anything that we can do to shorten it or delay it would be good."

The grant was awarded by the National Institute of Aging to fund research for the next five years.

For the past five years, the project relied on another $5 million grant from the National Institute of Aging and needed the new grant in order to continue the research, Sun said.