EUREKA Act Would Create Prizes for Alzheimer's Research
Published On: Sep 23, 2015
On Sept. 22, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the Ensuring Useful Research Expenditures is Key for Alzheimer’s (EUREKA) Act (S. 2067), a bill that would create prize-based incentives to help encourage researchers to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease by 2025.
The bill, released during World Alzheimer's Month, would not replace other funding and research initiatives for Alzheimer’s, but rather add another route for breakthroughs.
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the single biggest threats to the financial security of individuals and their families and also to the national economy, due to the cost of long-term care services required by people with the disease.
LeadingAge supports both federal and private research that would promote earlier detection of the disease, more effective treatment, improved quality of care and quality of life for those with the disease and their family caregivers, and ultimately effective measures to prevent and cure Alzheimer’s.
“America has always been the home of groundbreaking innovation,” Sen. Wicker said. “The ‘EUREKA Act’ seeks to channel this pioneering spirit through competition to help us better understand, detect, and ultimately cure Alzheimer’s disease. Given today’s budget constraints, it is important to find a way to supplement existing funds to further this critical research.”
The bipartisan EUREKA Act is cosponsored by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Angus King (I-ME), and Brian Schatz (D-HI).