Washington (December 22, 2020) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Senate co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, today commended the inclusion of $3.1 billion for Alzheimer’s and related dementia research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the year-end spending bill. This funding is a $300 million increase over last year’s appropriations, and meets the funding level the NIH estimates it will need to effectively treat or prevent Alzheimer’s by 2025, based on its most recent annual Alzheimer’s Disease budget conducted pursuant to Senator Markey’s Alzheimer’s Accountability Act. Currently, more than 5.5 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease, and by 2060, that number is expected to triple.

“We need big, bold investments in medical and clinical research in order to defeat the devastating disease that is Alzheimer’s,” said Senator Markey. “My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1985, and we cared for her in our living room until she passed in 1998. I know the pain this disease causes, and I also know the love that families and caregivers have for their loved ones living with it. I am proud to have fought for the appropriations included in this year’s spending bill, which will be critical to our fight for a cure.”

In Fiscal Year 2020, Senator Markey helped to secure $2.8 billion for Alzheimer’s and related dementia research at NIH, a 370% increase since 2014.
 
Throughout his years in Congress, Senator Markey has been a champion for raising awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and working to find a cure. He is the House author of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA), which became law in 2011. Passage of NAPA led to the creation of a National Alzheimer’s Plan to effectively prevent and treat Alzheimer’s by the year 2025. In 2014, Senator Markey’s Alzheimer’s Accountability Act was signed into law, as part of the fiscal year 2015 appropriations package, which requires the NIH to report to Congress how much additional funding the agency needs annually to meet the milestones set forth in Senator Markey’s National Alzheimer’s Project Act.