More than six million Americans currently have Alzheimer’s disease, and it’s likely that number will double by 2050. But experts at UW Health and the UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) are working diligently to change that. Following his father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2012, Nathaniel Chin ’06, MD’10 immediately shifted his specialty from infectious diseases to memory care geriatrician. Today, Chin remains just as passionate about finding a cure, serving as the medical director of the UW’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center — one of the country’s 33 federally funded research hubs studying this condition.
“We are on the trajectory for prevention,” says Chin. “Making Alzheimer’s a chronic condition instead of one that’s terminal is not only feasible, but it seems we’re getting closer and closer to that.”
Through the Wisconsin Medicine campaign, UW Health and SMPH are redefining health care. With the aid of donor support, the campaign will gain more ground to fight debilitating diseases like Alzheimer’s and solve the world’s most pressing medical challenges.