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January 15, 2004
Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Program Established at PENN
Medicine with
a $6 Million Gift
(Philadelphia, PA) -- The University of Pennsylvania
today announced the establishment of the Marian S. Ware
Alzheimer Program, comprising a set of collaborative
initiatives between PENN Medicine and
the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
to advance drug discovery, clinical research, and patient
care related to Alzheimer’s disease. The Program
is created through a $6 million gift from Marian S.
Ware, a long-time supporter of the University and advocate
for progress in medical research and treatment for Alzheimer’s
disease.
“Bringing our strengths together in new ways is
a major focus of our strategic planning at PENN Medicine,”
said David L. Cohen, Esq., Chair of
the PENN Medicine board. “This generous gift exemplifies
this goal, and is a powerful demonstration of confidence
in this institution’s current and future role
in improving the human condition in our community and
well beyond. We are proud to have the generous support
of the Ware family, which is one of the most charitable
families in our Commonwealth.”
The Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Program will uphold a three-part
mission: drug discovery, identifying and evaluating
novel therapeutics; clinical research, particularly
in developing and testing biomarkers to identify patients
with Alzheimer’s disease; and patient care, formulating
best practice models that coordinate the complex care
needs of patients and their family members.
“With our aged population projected to expand
dramatically in the coming years, and with Alzheimer’s
disease research showing great potential, now is the
time to focus increased resources and energies on uncovering
the mysteries of this devastating disease and offering
new hope to its patients and their loved ones,”
said Dr. Arthur H. Rubenstein, Executive
Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for
the Health System and Dean of the School of Medicine.
“The timely and extraordinarily generous gift
from Marian S. Ware will be invaluable to advancing
Penn’s contributions to several realms of this
vital work.”
The Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Program will build on the
recognized expertise and research strengths at Penn’s
Alzheimer’s Disease Center, the Center for Neurodegenerative
Disease Research, and collaborating faculty and centers
within the University of Pennsylvania Schools of Medicine
and Nursing.
In the last decade, Penn researchers have identified
potential targets of therapy for Alzheimer’s disease.
The drug discovery component of the Program will capitalize
on these recent discoveries by attempting to identify
novel compounds that may prevent or ameliorate the onset
or progression of Alzheimer’s disease. This work
will be led by Center for Neurodegenerative Disease
Research Director Virginia M.-Y. Lee, PhD, MBA,
the John H. Ware 3rd Professor in Alzheimer’s
Research, and co-director John Q. Trojanowski,
MD, PhD, William Maul Measey – Truman
G. Schnabel Jr., M.D. Professor of Geriatric Medicine
and Gerontology and Director of the Institute on Aging.
(Both Drs. Lee and Trojanowski are professors in the
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in Penn’s
School of Medicine.)
The clinical research initiative addresses another goal
within the Alzheimer’s disease medical community:
developing a reliable, easily administered, and safe
test to both detect Alzheimer’s disease pathology
and measure changes in disease progression. The assay
would facilitate clinical research and improve a physician’s
ability to identify patients with Alzheimer’s
disease who might benefit from treatment. This work
will be led by Christopher M. Clark, MD (Department
of Neurology) and Jason H. Karlawish, MD
(Department of Medicine: Division of Geriatrics), of
Penn’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center Memory
Disorders Clinic.
The third main piece of the Program focuses on developing
a comprehensive, coordinated, and cost-effective model
of care management for Alzheimer’s patients, who
often have multiple chronic illnesses and must navigate
through an intricate, disjointed health care system.
A recently completed pilot study, led by Mary
D. Naylor, PhD, RN, the Marian S. Ware Professor
in Gerontology at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Nursing, and funded by the Alzheimer’s Association,
demonstrated the potential of an innovative, evidence-based
model of care management for high-risk elders and their
caregivers, one implemented by advanced practice nurses
in collaboration with patients’ physicians and
other health team members. Through the Program, Dr.
Naylor will lead the implementation and evaluation of
this Care Coordination Model to patients within the
University of Pennsylvania Health System.
“Managing the progression of Alzheimer’s
in patients and providing nursing support for them and
their family members is ultimately as critical as managing
the disease itself. In order to best care for Alzheimer’s
patients, we must be continuously working to develop,
test, and apply cutting-edge models of care management.
Mrs. Ware’s decision to comprehensively address
the many facets of Alzheimer’s disease shows extraordinary
vision, ” said Dr. Afaf Meleis,
Dean of the School of Nursing.
Marian S. Ware was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania,
and graduated from Swarthmore College in 1938. In 1947,
she co-founded the Oxford Foundation with her husband,
John H. Ware 3rd, U.S. Congressman, University trustee,
and chairman of the board of the company now known as
American Water, in Voorhees, NJ. Mr. Ware passed away
in 1997. They raised four children; daughter Marilyn
Ware is a PENN Medicine Trustee, and daughter Carol
Ware Gates serves on the Board of Overseers of the School
of Nursing. Marian S. Ware and the Oxford Foundation
established the John H. Ware 3rd Professorship in Alzheimer’s
Research at Penn in 1999. The Marian S. Ware Alzheimer
Program marks a new dimension in her long-standing commitments
to Alzheimer’s disease research and treatment
and to Penn. Mrs. Ware is currently Chair Emeritus of
the Oxford Foundation.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative
disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired
memory, thinking, and behavior -- drastically affecting
the daily lives of patients and their families. Approximately
4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease
today, and it is estimated that 13 million will be afflicted
by the middle of this century unless a cure or prevention
is found, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
One in 10 people over 65 and nearly half of those over
85 have the disease. A person with Alzheimer’s
lives an average of 8 years and may live as many as
20 years or more from the onset of symptoms. U.S. society
spends at least $100 billion a year on Alzheimer’s
disease.
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PENN Medicine is a $2.2 billion
enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical
education, biomedical research, and high-quality patient
care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation’s
first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania
Health System (created in 1993 as the nation’s
first integrated academic health system).
Penn’s School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the
nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked
#4 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s
most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical
schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students,
the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its
superior education and training of the next generation
of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.
Penn Health System consists of four hospitals (including
its flagship Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania,
consistently rated one of the nation’s “Honor
Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report),
a faculty practice plan, a primary-care provider network,
three multispecialty satellite facilities, and home
health care and hospice.
As a nationally top-ranked xchool of nursing, the mission
of the University of Pennsylvania School of
Nursing is to make a significant societal impact
through the generation and dissemination of new knowledge,
the development of models of care that define excellent
practice, and the education of future clinicians, scholars,
and global leaders of the profession. Penn Nursing is
consistently recognized as leading the way on a national
and international basis in advancing knowledge that
positively influences health care policies and practice.
With an internationally recognized unique educational
curriculum, the School builds on partnerships with leading
health systems and community agencies to provide students
with theory and practice skills that will meet the needs
of culturally diverse patients in any clinical setting.
Penn’s School of Nursing is ranked #4 in the nation
for the receipt of NIH research funding and the School’s
faculty continue to develop, lead, and participate in
signature research programs that are making an impact
in health care of older adults, women, and children;
health outcomes research; and the history of nursing
and health care. In particular, Penn is recognized as
a national pioneer in providing cutting edge care to
vulnerable older adults through its educational and
research initiatives as well as its innovative nurse-managed
clinics.
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