Few illnesses disrupt quality of life as much as dementia. With 10,000 Baby Boomers reaching age 65 every day, the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease – the most common cause of dementia – is expected to double over the next 20 years. Today there are estimated to be 5.8 million people in the U.S. with Alzheimer’s disease and by 2050 the number may triple to 16 million. In Orange County alone there are 85,000 people living with this disease, and counting.

The mission of the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (UCI MIND) is to advance the treatment, prevention, diagnosis and care for Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, such as frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia and Huntington’s disease through scientific innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community education.

UCI MIND has been at the forefront of Alzheimer’s disease research. It is home to one of 32 Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRC) funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the only one in Orange County, and one of 10 California Alzheimer’s Disease Centers funded by the California Department of Public Health. (University of California, Irvine photo)