Published December 2000 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View
By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Unlocking the Secrets of Alzheimer's Disease
West Virginia is blessed with a number of fine colleges and universities. These institutions of higher learning are helping to prepare our students to lead the way in the new century. At the same time, researchers at these schools are seeking new ways to utilize energy sources, create new construction materials, and improve the quality of life for men and women throughout the world. West Virginia University (WVU), is taking steps to address an illness that is both physically and emotionally taxing -- Alzheimer's Disease. Earlier this year, WVU and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, announced plans to create the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute. The Institute is named for U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller's mother, who suffered from Alzheimer's until her death in 1992. When complete, it will be one of the world's major centers for research into Alzheimer's and other neurological illnesses. In support of this endeavor, I recently added $20 million to an appropriations bill to design and build this center in Morgantown. As planned, the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute will be the largest scientific research venture in the history of West Virginia and the only major research institute in the world to focus on human memory. Alzheimer's is an agonizing disease both for the patient and for the patient's family. Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, a person's mental capabilities erode. The memories of a lifetime are slowly stolen away by the illness. It is not uncommon in the late stages of the disease for the patient to fail to recognize even family members and close friends. It is my hope that, by utilizing the resources at the new Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, scientists and researchers will one day be able to find a way not only to control the disease but also to prevent it. I am proud to have been able to provide the Institute with its design and construction funding. WVU is developing into one of the nation's premier medical research institutions. The work at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center includes, among other things, the development of new approaches to treat breast cancer, to avert strokes, and to make specialized treatment available through advanced technology to people living miles away from the nearest hospital. These efforts and investments are very worthwhile, and I hope that they will lead to the day when doctors are finally able to prevent debilitating diseases. December 20, 2000