Banner gets $6.5M for Alzheimer’s research

May 17, 2010

By hammersmith

[Source: Phoenix Business Journal] – Banner Alzheimer’s Institute has received $6.5 million from the National Institutes of Health, a move that will create 130 jobs.

The grant is part of the $1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds awarded nationwide to create and sustain jobs, promote scientific advances and improve human health. In Arizona, the money will be used to renovate and expand 18,000 square feet of research space to make room for two positron emission tomography imaging suites, a new magnetic resonance imaging suite, a computational image-analysis laboratory and pay for equipment needed to produce a range of PET radiotracers for researchers throughout the state.

These radiotracers, which are injected into the body to light up areas of disease, have short half lives, which means it’s difficult for scientists in Arizona to buy them from companies elsewhere because of the long travel distances, said Dr. Eric Reiman, executive director of Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and the project’s lead investigator.

For more information: Banner gets $6.5M for Alzheimer’s research