New Year, New Hope

A Brand New Year Brings Brand New Hope for those with Alzheimer’s Disease

At the University of Virgina (UVA), a trail-blazing professor is busy perfecting an implant that, if successful, will have a major impact on Alzheimer’s sufferers. In an article written by Eric Williamson for UVA Today, this cutting-edge device is described in detail—offering new hope in the new year for those afflicted, and for those who love and care for them.

Dr. Harald Sontheimer, professor and chair of neuroscience at the UVA School of Medicine, founded the nation’s first School of Neuroscience at Virginia Tech. Author of the award-winning textbook “Diseases of the Nervous System,” Sontheimer is a leading innovator in brain cancer research. He and his team are excited to be creating a multi-purpose device that gives a better real-time image of a patient’s situation while also serving as a conduit for treatment.

Sontheimer’s team includes Virgina Tech’s Xiaoting Jia, and Washington University’s Song Hu, who are putting the finishing touches on the fiber-based implant, which is a little smaller than a human hair, Williamson writes. The National Institute of Health awarded the team of Hu, Jia, and Sontheimer a one-year grant that they hope will be expanded for the next five years in order to complete the project.

This leading-edge work will not only promise to treat or even reverse the degenerative effects of Alzheimer’s Disease, but will also help to settle a long-standing dispute about the actual cause of the disease. For details about this new device, its development, function, and future implications, please read the article in its entirety, at https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-tests-viability-alzheimers-implant-2024-may-be-year-hope#

Thanks to the generous support of the public for the many organizations that support Alzheimer’s research, 2024 might just be the year when these arduous research efforts finally pay off. Happy New Year!