Alzheimer's Study Group
Alzheimer’s is a rapidly escalating national crisis. Today more than 5 million Americans suffer from the irreversible deterioration triggered by this fatal disease, and CMS alone spends more than $100 billion per year to manage its impact. Both the prevalence and costs threaten to grow far greater in the coming years in step with the aging of the US population.
To help spur the nation to better prepare for Alzheimer’s through the design and implementation of bold, transformational solutions, CHT’s Alzheimer’s Project worked with partners to conceive, create and launch the Alzheimer’s Study Group (ASG).
ASG is a taskforce of national leaders, co-chaired by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, founder of The Center for Health Transformation, and former Senator Bob Kerrey, president of The New School. The ASG members are:
The Study Group’s core mission is to create an Alzheimer's National Strategic Plan to overcome the mounting Alzheimer's crisis. It will assess the adequacy of the country's current efforts to combat Alzheimer's and recommend strategies to accelerate progress toward defeating this terrible disease.
ASG has been organized as an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization administered and managed through The Center for Health Transformation. All expenses are provided for through private, specifically-designated, charitable contributions. The ASG received critical support from CHT members Wyeth and Booz Allen Hamilton. Wyeth sparked the effort with a generous, early financial contribution. Booz Allen Hamilton has supported its early development through in-kind contributions of substantial project management and assessment support that will continue for the duration of the project.
Important financial contributions have also been made by the Alzheimer’s Association, the Dwyer family and the Vradenburg Foundation. CHT members and others interested in helping to sponsor the ASG’s efforts can still do so.
For more information, visit the Alzheimer’s Study Group website at www.alzstudygroup.org.
The ASG was announced by Gingrich and Kerrey on July 11, 2007. At an event on Capitol Hill, the ASG co-chairs joined with U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Susan Collins (R-ME), Senate co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) and Richard Burr (R-NC), chairwoman and ranking member of the Senate HELP Committee's Retirement and Aging subcommittee, and Harry Johns, President and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association, to announce their decision to co-chair this effort. Support was also extended in a written statement by the House co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, U.S. Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ). On the same day, participating political and community leaders also released a statement of support.
With the announcement of ASG’s membership on November 29, 2007, these same leaders reaffirmed their strong support for the Study Group’s efforts. Photos from the July 11, 2007, ASG launch:
To help spur the nation to better prepare for Alzheimer’s through the design and implementation of bold, transformational solutions, CHT’s Alzheimer’s Project worked with partners to conceive, create and launch the Alzheimer’s Study Group (ASG).
ASG is a taskforce of national leaders, co-chaired by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, founder of The Center for Health Transformation, and former Senator Bob Kerrey, president of The New School. The ASG members are:
- Christine Cassel, M.D. – Geriatrician and President, American Board of Internal Medicine
- Meryl Comer – President, Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative
- Newt Gingrich – Founder, Center for Health Transformation
- Steven Hyman, M.D. – Provost, Harvard University
- Bob Kerrey – President, The New School
- Henry McCance – Chairman, Greylock Partners
- Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. – Director, Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, Brookings Institution
- Sandra Day O’Connor – Justice, The US Supreme Court (retired)
- James Runde – Special Advisor, Morgan Stanley
- David Satcher, M.D. – Director, Center of Excellence on Health Disparities, Morehouse School of Medicine
- Harold Varmus, M.D. – President, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
The Study Group’s core mission is to create an Alzheimer's National Strategic Plan to overcome the mounting Alzheimer's crisis. It will assess the adequacy of the country's current efforts to combat Alzheimer's and recommend strategies to accelerate progress toward defeating this terrible disease.
ASG has been organized as an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization administered and managed through The Center for Health Transformation. All expenses are provided for through private, specifically-designated, charitable contributions. The ASG received critical support from CHT members Wyeth and Booz Allen Hamilton. Wyeth sparked the effort with a generous, early financial contribution. Booz Allen Hamilton has supported its early development through in-kind contributions of substantial project management and assessment support that will continue for the duration of the project.
Important financial contributions have also been made by the Alzheimer’s Association, the Dwyer family and the Vradenburg Foundation. CHT members and others interested in helping to sponsor the ASG’s efforts can still do so.
For more information, visit the Alzheimer’s Study Group website at www.alzstudygroup.org.
Launch of the Alzheimer’s Study Group
The ASG was announced by Gingrich and Kerrey on July 11, 2007. At an event on Capitol Hill, the ASG co-chairs joined with U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Susan Collins (R-ME), Senate co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) and Richard Burr (R-NC), chairwoman and ranking member of the Senate HELP Committee's Retirement and Aging subcommittee, and Harry Johns, President and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association, to announce their decision to co-chair this effort. Support was also extended in a written statement by the House co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease, U.S. Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ). On the same day, participating political and community leaders also released a statement of support.
With the announcement of ASG’s membership on November 29, 2007, these same leaders reaffirmed their strong support for the Study Group’s efforts. Photos from the July 11, 2007, ASG launch:
Senator Richard Burr (R-NC); Alzheimer's Association President and CEO Harry Johns; Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD); Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY); former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, founder of The Center for Health Transformation; former Senator Bob Kerrey, president of The New School; and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME).
Photo Credit: Amy Nyhuis
The ASG co-chairs: former Senator Bob Kerrey, president of The New School and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, founder of The Center for Health Transformation.
Photo Credit: Amy Nyhuis
Alzheimer's Association President and CEO Harry Johns; Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY); former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, founder of The Center for Health Transformation; and former Senator Bob Kerrey, president of The New School.
Photo Credit: Amy Nyhuis
Those interested in learning more about the ASG initiative and how their organizations can contribute to its success are encouraged to contact CHT’s Alzheimer’s Project Director and ASG Executive Director, Robert Egge (202-375-2001; regge@gingrichgroup.com).
