Research

Wilcock Awarded $1.5 Million for Alzheimer's Research at Sanders-Brown

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 3, 2012) — Donna Wilcock, assistant professor of physiology and member of the faculty of the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, is the recipient of a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will enable Wilcock and her laboratory to study the relationship between cerebrovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease.

The grant, which will be dispersed over a five year period, will run from July 2012 until April 2017. First-year funding has already been awarded in the amount of $314,554.

"Cerebrovascular disease commonly occurs with aging, as does Alzheimer’s disease," said Wilcock. "In fact, it is estimated that 40 percent of Alzheimer’s patients also have cerebrovascular disease. Our research proposal will examine the impact cerebrovascular disease has on the progression of amyloid pathology, a brain pathology in Alzheimer’s disease. Our overall goal is to enhance our understanding of the relationship between cerebrovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease and how one can affect the other."

“In these times of tight funding, being awarded an NIH grant on the first try is an outstanding accomplishment, and illustrates the high significance of the research that Dr. Wilcock is pursuing”, said Linda Van Eldik, Director of the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Disease Center.