GHR’s Health initiative partners with organizations using innovative trials to pursue the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. One such trial is the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative (API) Generation Study which recently began enrollment in high-risk older adults to validate the use of genetic screening and identify an effective approach to prevent the disease.

Led by Dr. Eric Reiman and Dr. Pierre Tariot of Banner Alzheimer’s Institute (BAI), this pioneering multi-site prevention study is working to determine whether two investigational anti-amyloid compounds—an active immunotherapy and an oral medication—can prevent or delay the emergence of Alzheimer’s symptoms in people at a high genetic risk of developing the disease. The study will involve more than 1,300 cognitively healthy adults, age 60 to 75, who have inherited a copy of the e4 type of the apolipoprotein (APOE) gene from each parent. Roughly one in four people carry a single copy of the gene, which is strongly linked to late-onset Alzheimer’s.

The Generation Study is part of the API, an international collaborative led by BAI to accelerate the evaluation of promising treatments. The study is sponsored by Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis and Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based biotechnology company Amgen in collaboration with BAI, with funding from the National Institute on Aging—part of the National Institutes of Health—as well as GHR, Alzheimer’s Association, Fidelity Biosciences Research Institute and Banner Alzheimer’s Foundation.

To learn more about how GHR is joining forces with industry, other philanthropic partners and the United States National Institutes of Health on the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, contact us.

GHR Foundation's Inter-Religious Action funding works to improve development outcomes, build lasting community connections and advance peace by mobilizing religious leaders and communities to address common challenges. GHR was recently honored to host USAID, a key partner in our global development initiatives. With a shared focus on sustainable local impact, GHR leverages the government agency's resources in places like the Central African Republic, Cambodia and Nigeria to improve development outcomes, build lasting community connections and advance peace by mobilizing religious leaders and communities to address common challenges.
 
A recent column by the Star Tribune's John Rash recognizes the role of Minnesota-based institutions such as GHR on the global stage, especially when it comes to issues like countering extremism. Both the American Refugee Committee's (ARC) John Griffith and USAID's Associate Administrator Eric Postel remarked on the importance of partnership in strengthening communities. "Postel pointed to ARC’s efforts," Rash writes, "as well as those from many Minnesota-based entities such as the GHR Foundation as examples of how design isn’t only about places, but processes, such as interfaith dialogues."

GHR recently attended the “Diplomacy Begins Here Summit,” hosted by Global Minnesota in partnership with the State Department and Global Ties U.S. at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Participants from the State Department and local peacebuilding organizations discussed approaches to countering extremism. GHR's Communication Director Chris Berger had the opportunity to moderate a discussion with plenary speaker George Selim, director of the Office of Community Partnerships at the Department of Homeland Security, on promoting community resilience.

During their visit to GHR, Postel and the director of USAID’s Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Mark Brinkmoeller discussed the agency’s belief in public-private partnerships and its growing commitment to faith-based initiatives. Brinkmoeller and Postel then sat down with senior program advisor Andreas Hipple for a video interview on the expanding partnership, as well as GHR’s ongoing inter-religious action leadership. Watch the discussion below.

GHR Foundation is dedicated to building a community of thought leaders committed to a common cause. We recently had the honor of convening with some of these leaders at the Aspen Philanthropy Group annual meeting held in Colorado. GHR was invited for the second time to take part in conversations with a small group of representatives from major foundations, including the Ford Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and more.

The discussions last year focused on the opportunities that come with change. This year, attention was turned to challenges playing out in real time. Participants considered how philanthropies might restore societal cohesion as tragic events draw attention to racial inequity in the United States.

Foundations are beginning to embrace ideas such as social context, design-build and public-private partnerships – concepts that have been at the core of GHR since its founding. With the guidance of our board and committees, these approaches are put into action around the world by our dedicated program staff and partners. To learn more about how GHR is partnering with the world’s experts and local leadership to achieve transformational change in education, health and global development, contact us.