Dr. Charles DeCarli, co-director of UC Davis Alzheimer’s Research Center, received the news on March 24th by a colleague.
“Your research is finished.”
DeCarli was conducting six-year trials funded by the National Institutes of Health for Brain and Vascular Conditions that could be a risk factor for dementia. Involving hundreds of medical staff, 14 research sites and 1,700 patients in 19 clinical locations in the United States, the study was built towards the goal of 2,250 patients.
Steve Lopez
Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a columnist for the Los Angeles Times since 2001. He has won over 12 National Journalism Awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.
“This was the pinnacle of my career and the pinnacle of my research,” DeCarli said over the past 38 years.
The $53 million survey paid in annual allocation was approved during President Trump’s first term. However, in term 2, the administration took chainsaws to universities, federal employment, and federal funding for scientific research, stimulating scientists looking for jobs in other countries.
The closing letter from the NIH told DeCarli that his research with “artificial and unscientific categories” was “in the chopping block as it no longer affected agency priorities.” The UC Davis investigation was one of 14 such research projects that were notified in March that funding had ended.
Approximately 7 million U.S. residents over the age of 65 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, the country’s seventh cause of death. Given the waves of the vertex, this number is expected to nearly double over the next 35 years. Therefore, it makes no sense that a deeper understanding of the complex set of constant, cruel brain diseases that destroy the lives of victims and their loved ones is no longer a priority.
Manny Rezende, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, will be walking along with his wife Rose Shalom in June 2023. Approximately 7 million US residents over the age of 65 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, the country’s seventh cause of death.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
DeCarli suspects he was targeted because of the name of his research.
“The clinical significance of accidental white matter lesions for MRI in a diverse population with cognitive complaints.”
DEI – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion – The programme is on the administration’s hit list. However, in this case, “diversity” was a reference to the patient’s health and age spectrum, as well as to the educational and racial background.
With the help of UC Davis’ attorneys, DeCarli appealed the decision, but he also had to begin closure of the investigation in anticipation of a second denial or a lengthy appeal process.
The appeal was successful, and the funds recovered on April 11th, but DeCarli is still catching up.
“There was a lot of confusion,” he told me.
Clinical partners had to contact as many as 100 patients each with news of their termination, but had to reach out again to let them know that the green light had returned.
But how long?
Russ Paulsen of Usagainstalzheimer’s, a nonprofit advocacy group, said no one seems to know. When I spoke to him on Wednesday, Paulsen had just seen a Senate hearing where Approvals Committee Chairman Susan Collins (R Maine) called for a recovery in NIH cuts.
2023, Manny Rezende and his wife Rose Shalom.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“I think there’s a widespread bipartisan support for continuing research on Alzheimer’s disease,” Paulsen said. And the official word for Health and Human Services is that the administration continues to “conduct “to maintain robust biomedical research” and “global leadership in science and technology.”
But that claim won’t spread on news accounts that plan to fire 1,000 NIH employees earlier this year, or cut 30% of the health and human services budget and 40% of the NIH budget.
“It’s hard to imagine someone opposed to finding a cure, but I don’t explain why they’re proposing a 40% cut,” Paulsen said.
“We know that funds are flowing through doors that are much slower than they have been in years and that researchers know that they will submit high-quality research and be “pending” or rejected,” he added. “And we know that existing multi-year grants have been cancelled or payments are delayed.”
In March, Rose Shalom of Sunland lost her husband, Manny Rezende. Shalom called the confusion in the study so badly immoral, she said that those who control the strings of their wallets in their studies should “expend time with Alzheimer’s and the people who are with their caregivers and understand the unique fears of this disease.
I visited Rose and Manny in 2023 at my home and at Opica at Westla Adult Day Care Center.
“As we live longer, more and more people will be diagnosed with the disease,” Shalom said. “The emotional and financial blow to patients and their caregivers is beyond explanation.”
Unfortunately, there is no treatment on the nearby horizon. However, DeCarli said there are several encouragement advances, including medications that help slow the progression of cognitive decline and improved diagnosis that could lead to previous interventions.
The United States is a world leader and a collaborator in medical research, DeCarli said. This process is integrated. “With those working on different parts of the same question, true discoveries can arise from interacting with each other.”
The Trump administration appears to have a different agenda.
It includes:
– Dismantle the role of the United States in solving medical mysteries.
– Dismiss hundreds of researchers studying the effects of global warming.
– Driving scientists to look for jobs in other countries.
I knew that there were so many backwater swamps, potholes and detours on the path that people once again made America great.
steve.lopez@latimes.com
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