The Arizona Alzheimer's Disease Core Center (AACC) received a five-year, $7.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to continue its collaborative Alzheimer's research.

The AACC is a group of eight institutions — Sun Health Research Institute, Banner Alzheimer's Institute (BAI), Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System — that shares resources for Alzheimer's research and testing.

The group, which competed against some of the strongest research programs in the nation, received one of the highest scores possible for its grant application.

The high score and funding come at a time when NIH is increasingly shifting its funding to focus on collaborative endeavors.

Dr. Eric Reiman, executive director of BAI and director of AACC's administrative core said in a statement, "It is both our hope and expectation that the scientific road to a world without Alzheimer's will travel right through Arizona."

This marks the second major NIA grant awarded to AACC. In 2001, the group received $4.7 million from the institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

For more information:

"Ariz. Alzheimer's group awarded $7.5 mil grant," Arizona Republic, 10/04/2006