Bill Gates is no stranger to charitable donations and philanthropy. The co-founder of Microsoft has used his wealth to focus on finding cures for infectious disease, promoting education and reducing global poverty. Gates is now focusing his efforts on Alzheimer’s disease through a $50 million donation to the Dementia Discovery Fund.
Learn more about why he is passionate about Alzheimer’s research and how he plans to use his investment to find a cure for the disease.
Bill Gates Invests $50 Million to Alzheimer’s
Bill Gates is continuing his pursuit of philanthropy, this time targeting Alzheimer’s research. He has personally invested $50 million to dementia through the Dementia Discovery Fund.
Bill Gates states that he is personally invested in the fight against Alzheimer’s, drawn by the mystery of the disease and a desire to understand why various drugs have not worked thus far. He says that some of the men in his family have had the disease and he has seen the “human tragedy” of it first hand. In a recent interview he states that he hopes to “get some of the data organized so it’s easier to see what’s going on.”
Gates will use his background in technology to organize data, saying, “With Alzheimer’s we have a lot of trial data including the failed trials, we have long-term studies, really understanding the different factors that contribute, you know how cognition goes along with various biological markers, a great data set will help the researchers.”
He is optimistic about finding a cure for dementia in the next 10-15 years, acknowledging that the tools we have to examine the brain are better and better as is our understanding of genetics and early intervention.
He also acknowledges that there will be a payback for the company that finds a cure saying, “that’s not my primary motivation, but… that’s why we expect the level of investment to go up.”
What do you think about Bill Gates’ donation to Alzheimer’s research? Will his research impact the search for a cure? We’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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