Extra state funding for brain disease research on the ballot this November could have a big impact in San Antonio and South Texas, home to a federally designated Alzheimer\u2019s disease research center and a population that faces higher rates of dementia.<\/p>\n
The Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas was approved by state lawmakers earlier this year with bipartisan support. But voters will have a chance to weigh in on Proposition 14<\/a> this November, which would allocate $3 billion in state funding for the institute.<\/p>\n Modeled after the state\u2019s Cancer Prevention and Research Institute formed in 2007, DPRIT would administer grants to researchers studying Parkinson\u2019s disease, dementia and other brain diseases. It would be the largest state-funded brain disease research fund of its kind. <\/p>\n \u201cWe see every day the concerns of patients and the heartbreaking stories of patients and families,\u201d said Dr. Sudha Seshadri, founding director of UT San Antonio\u2019s Glenn Bigg\u2019s Institute for Alzheimer\u2019s and Neurodegenerative Diseases. <\/p>\n Seshadri is also the director of the South Texas Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Center<\/a>, one of 37 Alzheimer\u2019s research centers funded by the National Institute on Aging.<\/p>\n \u201c[CPRIT] has been quite effective at making Texas a global leader in finding cures for cancer, and the hope is that something similar can happen for dementia,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Statewide support<\/p>\n State lawmakers passed the formation of DPRIT<\/a> \u2014 and its inclusion on the November ballot \u2014 with broad bipartisan support earlier this year.<\/p>\n Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said it was one of his top priorities in this year\u2019s legislative session \u201cafter visiting with many Texans suffering from dementia, along with their families,\u201d he said in a news release<\/a>. \u201cTexas will become the premier destination for dementia prevention and research and Texans will have access to the best dementia care in the world, right here at home.\u201d<\/p>\n Alzheimer\u2019s is the most common form of dementia, a degenerative brain disease characterized by memory loss and a decline in cognitive abilities. <\/p>\n Typically occurring in people 60 and older, the disease afflicts roughly\u00a0459,000 Texans, about 12% of the state\u2019s population over the age of 65, according to<\/a> the Alzheimer\u2019s Association. DPRIT would study other neurodegenerative diseases as well, including Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s Cancer Prevention and Research Institute was established with the approval of 61% of Texas voters in 2007. The organization had a rocky start, with allegations of corruption<\/a> over how the institute awarded state funds to commercial research projects. The agency was restructured<\/a> after the fallout. In 2015, a former high-ranking CPRIT official was found not guilty<\/a> of\u00a0deceiving colleagues to\u00a0secure an $11 million grant for a biotechnology firm.<\/p>\n The state Republicans who oppose the formation of DPRIT have pointed to those issues, as well as concerns about how much state funding would be spent, as reasons for their opposition. If approved, Proposition 14 would authorize up to $3 billion in funding over 10 years for DPRIT, capped at $300 million annually.\u00a0The institute would likely not have a brick-and-mortar building, according to Seshadri.<\/p>\n Texas Policy Research, a conservative think tank, labeled DPRIT \u201cyet another bureaucratic monstrosity with little accountability or guarantees of success.\u201d And state Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) described the institute as \u201ccorporate welfare on steroids.\u201d<\/p>\n But the institute has the backing of most state lawmakers and medical organizations and advocacy groups like the national Alzheimer\u2019s Association, Texas Assisted Living Association, Texas Medical Association, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson\u2019s Research, among others.<\/p>\n High-risk, high-reward<\/p>\n Along with Seshadri and the several brain disease research center she directs, Proposition 14 and DPRIT has the backing of BioMedSA, a convener of biomedical research organizations and startups, and the Mind Science Foundation, a nonprofit that awards grants to neuroscience research.<\/p>\n Brain research is not cheap, explained Marissa Rodriguez, the new CEO at Mind Science Foundation. A lot of dementia research is high-risk, high-reward, and this often turns off private investors.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that could be what unlocks progress,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re thinking about tackling something like dementia, that is how you break the frontiers, by investing in those high-risk [projects].\u201d<\/p>\n Rodriguez and Seshadri also emphasized the importance of being able to attract talented researchers and keep them here long term as game-changers for San Antonio and dementia research in South Texas.<\/p>\n Of the 37 federally designated Alzheimer\u2019s research centers in the U.S., San Antonio is home to the one with the largest Hispanic population, which faces higher rates of the disease and has historically been underrepresented in clinic trials and research, Seshadri said.<\/p>\n