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Contact:
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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.
# # #
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.
Release available online at http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/jan04/ware.htm