(The Center Square) – The most recent Pennsylvania budget was tight, but it did add a few new line items, including $5 million toward research for neurodegenerative diseases like ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s.
On Friday, Gov. Josh Shapiro, Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen, and Rep. Kyle Mullins, D-Peckville, joined researchers at the University of Pittsburgh to mark the investment.
Mullins lost his father to ALS and has spent his time in the legislature championing the cause alongside Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Quarryville, who lost both parents to the disease.
“So many know the feeling of when that diagnosis is given,” said Mullins. “The timer is set, and you begin to grieve in anticipation of losing that person you love. As you watch them lose the ability to speak, to swallow, to remember your name, or to breathe, you prepare for that loss because there are no cures.”
Medical researchers in Pennsylvania hope to rewrite that story by developing new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. In a state with a huge and growing population of seniors, the issue is particularly pressing.
“The numbers tell an urgent story,” said Bogen. “Nationally, more than seven million Americans live with Alzheimer’s, a figure projected to nearly double by 2050. Here in Pennsylvania, this Public Health crisis hits close to home. Over 280,000 of our neighbors aged 65 and older are currently living with Alzheimer’s. This is a large city of people, each facing a devastating progressive decline.”
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Dean Dr. Anantha Shekhar said he recently co-chaired a National Academy of Medicine panel on the development of treatments for ALS. He said for him, one of the hardest parts is the difficulty diagnosing the disease. For most patients, the disease isn’t genetic, and there is no one-size-fits-all therapy.
“These are not simple solutions,” said Shekhar. “We are actually growing people’s neurons from their skin or from other cells, and then trying to understand what is wrong with those neurons for that patient and then trying to figure out how to come up with the treatment.”
The university has positioned itself to streamline the path between initial academic research, innovation in the private sector, and delivery to patients. He pointed to the wide network of patients served by UPMC across the state. Those patients are at once test subjects and the recipients of hope that was not available to those receiving diagnoses in the recent past.
While at Pitt, Shapiro signed the funding into law. It builds on momentum from the initiation of the state’s Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Related Diseases Office established last year within the Department of Aging.
“The only hope we have while here on earth is that some breakthrough emerges from one of our world-class institutions like this one,” said Mullins. “While so many have experienced loss, today is about hope—hope that we’re just one grant away from one clinical trial, from one breakthrough that makes these livable diseases so that we can actually lift that burden, so that when the doctor delivers that bad news they can also deliver the good news that we have a therapy to stop the progression, or – better yet – a cure.”
