The third leading cause of death in San Diego is Alzheimer’s, up from sixth in the nation. NBC 7’s Steven Luke is in La Jolla with more on the $1.3 million grant given to a local lab.
A San Diego research institute has been awarded a $1.3 million federal grant to fund critical research for families devastated by Alzheimer's Disease.
Inside the Conrad Prebys Center For Chemical Genomics researchers hope to zero in on specific chemical compounds that could be part of new medicine to slow the progression of the disease.
The National Institutes of Health awarded the funds as a three-year grant.
This research is vital for San Diego County as recent studies suggest the number of local residents 55 and older with dementia is expected to increase 36 percent by 2030.
There are no known cures and no disease-modifying therapies, according to researchers.
Thanks to the Alzheimer's Project, a county-led initiative and it's research spin-off Collaboration 4 Cure - local companies and philanthropists have worked together over the past few years with great success.
They've zeroed in on a specific gene that seems to be problematic.
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Right now with the help of drug screening robots, these researchers are testing more than a million chemical compounds hoping to find specific ones that can attack that problematic gene and help families dealing with dementia.
Participating with Sanford Burnham Prebys in C4C are The Salk Institute, The Scripps Research Institute, J. Craig Venter Institute and the University of California, San Diego.
Right now Alzheimer's Disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States but, in San Diego County it is the third leading cause of death, according to the County Health and Human Services Agency.
