Donate your Brain to Research (some day):

One of the most amazing donations you can make is to support research though a donation of your brain after death. There are so many things we still don't understand about these diseases, and there is a critical need to examine the parts of the brain responsible, because every single person is different. Unfortunately, not enough people donate, and we can only learn so much from mice and non-human models. 

 If you are interested in eventually making an ultimate gift, please discuss directly with Dr. Aldridge any questions you may have. To ensure a smooth process, registration should be done ahead of time by calling 319-467-7000 and asking to pre-enroll for brain donation to Marco Hefti (the pathologist). However, if a patient with Lewy Body or any other dementia has already passed, please immediately call the decedent Care Team at 319-467-7000 and mention Dr. Marco Hefti. 

More information about the brain bank can be found here: https://inrl.lab.uiowa.edu/


 

Monetary Support: If you are interested in donating directly to support dementia research, either within the Aldridge Laboratory or at University of Iowa in general, there are multiple ways to help listed below. 

Prior and current donations have been used for the following:

- Pilot research studies to gather initial data to apply for NIH funding in areas of research without current, traditional support.

- 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

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:

  • Morgan Shea
    Assistant Vice President, Health Science Development 
  • The University of Iowa Center for Advancement 
  • One West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52242 Office: 319-467-3505 
  • Mobile: 224-203-4778 
  • foriowa.org 
    Morgan.Shea@foriowa.org

Lewy Body Dementia Research, Parkinson's Dementia or other Mixed Dementias

If desired, provide information regarding "in honor of" or "in memory of".

 

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.  

https://givetoIowa.org/lewy

Alzheimer's Disease Research or Related Dementias

If desired, provide information regarding "in honor of" or "in memory of".

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 it will be directed to the laboratory or cross-laboratory project most focused on that disease.