Kathy, Dr. Ramirez, Ms. Fawver, and Dr. Murray
On January 10th, AAQI board member Kathy Kennedy-Dennis hand delivered a check to the Texas A & M Health Science Center for $40,894. The money will be used to fund research conducted by Dr. Ian V. J. Murray and Dr. Carmen Ramirez, as they explore the connection between Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes.
Along with Lab Manager Janelle Fawver, they hope to learn how type 2 diabetes increases the risk of Alzheimer’s and to uncouple such disease-causing mechanisms from one another.
Your quilts made this grant possible.
Kathy brought Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts to show the scientists how the money they received was raised.
Everyone admires a quilt.
Kathy created a small quilt for Dr. Murray called God Speed. Each of the 54 narrow purple patches has the name of a person who has or had Alzheimer’s or a related dementia written on the wrong side of the fabric by family and friends. The quilt honors the 5.4 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s and is a tangible reminder of all the people who hope for a cure so desperately.
Dr Murray has the quilt proudly on display on his office wall. When people ask about the quilt he responds that it was made by Kathy Kennedy-Dennis and is from the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative. “But more importantly,” Dr. Murray says, “it is a reminder that the foundation of research in Alzheimer’s disease is made possible by the people with the disease, and the families and foundations rallying for a cure.”
Similar quilts will be created for the recipients of future AAQI-funded research. Please email Kathy (kdennis428@aol.com) if you have a name you would like added to the next quilt. If the name of your loved one is already on one of the 182 Name Quilts, please give someone else a chance.
Join me in wishing God Speed to the Texas A & M System research team through your comments below. May their work bring us closer to a cure!
