Commentary on “Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: Two decades of progress”

It was a special privilege to be associated with the early National Institute on Aging support for and development of Alzheimer’s Disease research, and, in particular, as soon as I arrived at NIA in 1983 to learn from Zaven Khachaturian, in much more detail than I had known before, the major challenges and opportunities. He and his associates made it clear that our Institute’s commitment must stress basic biological and pathologic research to produce clear definition of this disease plus steps that might be undertaken to prevent and control its manifestations. At NIA, we made Alzheimer’s disease research our highest priority for program development and increased funding. Highlights of the mid 1980s included a national conference focusing on the challenges, and the initiation of and funding for major Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers in 10 universities as well as support in other settings. In the years since then, I, along with so many others, have followed the major progress in learning about the explicit characteristics of this disease— the molecular pathology, the resulting pathophysiologic changes, the clinical consequences in affected persons, and potential therapies. We can all appreciate the continued growth in support of research, by the NIA and other sources; the sustained commitment of leaders and teams in pursuing the many important lines of research; the development of clinical services and therapies; and the extensive awareness by the public at large of the importance of all of these efforts.