Support: If you are interested in donating directly to support dementia research, either for studies ongoing in the Aldridge Laboratory or at University of Iowa in general, there are multiple methods (online, mail, etc) listed below. Thank you for your support!
Lewy Body Dementia Research, Parkinson's Dementia or other Mixed Dementias
This funds supports research including but not limited to:
1) SMASH Registry, which accepts both healthy aging and all-cause dementia patients to track how sleep, mood, psychosis and thinking change day to day in order to better predict and understand these neuropsychiatric and neurologic symptoms and how best to care for people with them.
2) Post-mortem (brain-bank) studies on the cellular and circuit causes of these symptoms and different dementia types to determine possible drug or other treatments.
Donate online with this link, or check below for more options to donate to this fund:
Alzheimer's Disease Research or Related Dementias
Funds research across dementia types, including Alzheimer's Dementia, Frontotemporal dementia, Vascular dementia, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, etc.
If you would like your donation put towards a specific disease, please indicate that in your comment and we will try to direct it towards the laboratory or cross-laboratory project most focused on that disease.
If you would like to have personal input directing your gifts use, please look below at the "in person donation" to discuss becoming a sponsor.
By Mail:
By Mail: You can make a check payable to University of Iowa Center for Advancement and reference the Lewy Body Dementia Research Fund or the Neurology- Alzheimer's Disease Research Fund. Please note the person you are honoring, if applicable.
Mail to: UI Center for Advancement, One West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52242
In person
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or setting up a fund in your name, please contact:
Thank you so much for considering supporting research!! We try to make it count.
Prior and current donations have been used for starting and supporting may different studies at University of Iowa, including the following:
- Pilot research studies to gather initial data. This includes both mouse and human research studies to gather preliminary data prior to receiving external funding. These pilot studies allow us to compete for larger grants from the NIH to help test our hypotheses or generate new hypotheses.
- Support for cost of autopsy and brain research for individuals that were not patients at University of Iowa (the University/Pathology department covers the cost for individuals that were current patients).
- Cost of a low temperature freezer to help store samples.
- Support for the SMASH Registry is entirely funded by internal grants and donations, including funding from the Carver Charitable Trust and the STEAD family scholarship. This includes support for digital biomarkers (movement trackers), salary for our dedicated research assistants, EEG headbands for sleep tracking and recorders for speech journaling.