UC Davis Health Wins $8.8 Million in State Funding for Alzheimer's Research

University of California, Davis Health (UCD Health) announced Thursday that the state will allocate the institution's researchers $8.8 million in funding to study Alzheimer's disease, reports the Sacramento Bee . UCD Professor Charles DeCarli said the funding will go toward researching the roles that racial disparities, diabetes, diet, and infection can play in the disorder. "As our population ages, devastating disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and other causes of dementia are increasingly common," he noted. "Not only do these diseases have severe consequences for those affected, but they have substantial added burden to their caregivers." A grant of $4.9 million will be awarded to David K. Johnson, director of the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center. He said he will use the grant to address older African Americans' vulnerability to Alzheimer's, which constitutes an epidemic among this demographic. Johnson added that the grant will help expand the center's clinical services to include delivery and testing of a lifestyle intervention to treat older adults at high risk for type 2 diabetes and affiliated cognitive decline. "We are looking at fitness vs. diet and seeing if one is better than the other for specific people," he noted.