The Evelyn F. McKnight Center for Age-Related Memory Loss>>

Thanks to a $5 million gift from the McKnight Brain Research Foundation, the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine is creating The Evelyn F. McKnight Center for Age-Related Memory Loss. Founded in 1999, the McKnight Brain Research Foundation supports research toward the understanding of memory and the specific influences of the natural aging process. Evelyn McKnight, who was a nurse, and her husband, William, were very interested in the effects of aging on memory.

The aging population is growing rapidly: By the year 2030 it is estimated that nearly 25 percent of Americans will be 65 or older, with millions suffering some form of memory loss. The mission of The Evelyn F. McKnight Center for Age-Related Memory Loss will be to discover the causes of age-related disorders of brain function and memory, and ways to prevent these disorders. Much remains to be discovered about how the brain changes in normal aging.

The vision is for this center to one day become the nation's foremost center of research into the causes and treatment of age-related disorders of the brain. The center will help integrate the University's neuroscience programs and their clinical and basic neuroscientists, while enhancing the research and education programs. The School of Medicine's strategic plan identifies the neurosciences as one of six areas of existing excellence, and as a target for expansion and strengthening.