Cohen, Duncan sponsor bill to encourage Alzheimer's research

April 27--WASHINGTON -- Researchers who develop cures or treatments for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia would be eligible for prizes under legislation filed Wednesday by two Tennessee congressmen.

The bill, by Reps. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Knoxville, and Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, would provide $10 million to the National Institutes of Health and other agencies to create the prize competition.

"Almost everyone has a family member or friend whose family has been affected by this awful disease," Duncan said. "While we are already dedicating federal dollars toward this effort, I believe we can, and we must, do more to work to develop effective treatments and the prevention of Alzheimer's."

Funding Alzheimer's research by NIH is important to combatting the disease, Cohen said, but "it is not the only way that Congress can act to stimulate discovery and development of new treatments and cures."

The prize competition would encourage public research and "bring the best ideas and talent together to fight this horrible disease," Cohen said.

The bill is called the Eureka Act, for Ensuring Useful Research Expenditures is Key for Alzheimer's. It is the House version of bipartisan legislation that Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., has introduced in the Senate. Wicker's legislation has 40 cosponsors.

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