Could Texas do for Alzheimer’s research what it did for cancer?

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Two decades ago, state Rep. Tom Craddick could ask a room of his West Texas constituents what illness they feared the most and the answer, unfailingly, was always cancer.

A few weeks ago, about the time Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick contacted him about a new blockbuster medical research fund idea, Craddick asked a group of his constituents the question again and no one mentioned cancer.

“It was unanimous in the room,” Craddick said. “Alzheimer’s and dementia.”

Craddick, R-Midland, told that story to a room full of rapt researchers gathered at the University of Texas at Austin this week, a day after Patrick made a stunning announcement that he wants lawmakers to approve a dementia research fund modeled after Texas’ successful $6 billion Cancer Prevention and Research Institute, known as CPRIT.

A Texas-funded dementia research fund in the mold of its now successful 15-year-old cancer fund has the potential to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into a field still looking for better ways to slow symptoms as well as a cure. Since CPRIT began in 2007, it has become the country’s second largest funder of cancer research, and if as successful, the dementia counterpart could have global impacts on how to prevent and care for individuals with the disease.

“Like CPRIT, this investment will draw leading researchers and companies to Texas and require them to be based in Texas, leading to their further investment in our state,” Patrick said in a Monday statement.

Patrick added that Craddick along with Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman, R-Houston, will be working with him to get a bill through the Texas Legislature this year and then present the proposal before voters.

“I don’t think there’s a family in Texas who hasn’t been personally touched by these diseases or doesn’t have a close friend,” Huffman said, noting that roughly 30% of those on Medicaid in Texas who are in nursing homes have dementia-related issues and dementia patients are more likely readmitted to hospitals. “We’re paying a lot on the back end for these diseases.”

Few details have surfaced since Patrick announced he was making a Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas a priority this session, which begins Jan. 14. It’s not clear how much money such a fund would have or how it would be funded, either through bonds as CPRIT was, or whether the state’s enviable Economic Stabilization Fund, also known more commonly as its rainy day fund, would be tapped to get it started. Calls to Patrick’s office for more details were not immediately returned to The Texas Tribune.

But Craddick’s anecdote underscored what Patrick and other lawmakers are finding out in their own districts. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are a real concern because of its devastating toll and cost.

Patrick’s campaign for dementia research

Patrick’s announcement picks up from 2023, when a similar bill failed. That year state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, together with Craddick and others authored House Bill 15, which would have created a Mental Health and Brain Institute of Texas that would have received $300 million in state grants each year. The House passed the measure but it died in the Senate.

“I think it was too broad,” Craddick said of the 2023 attempt.

Then a few months ago, Patrick began reaching out to Huffman and Craddick about making a fund based on the CPRIT model.

“We sort of had some ideas kind of floating around for several sessions,” Huffman told the Tribune, adding that Patrick had been interested in dementia research for some time. “He wanted to make that one of his priorities.”

By highlighting the proposal this early, Craddick, the former Texas House speaker, doesn’t anticipate any roadblocks.

“I think the chances are excellent,” he said of the proposal’s probability of passing. It already has the support, he said, of House Speaker Dade Phelan.

What is the CPRIT model

Texas voters approved the creation of CPRIT in 2007, financing $3 billion for it through the issue of bonds.

Voters approved another $3 billion for it five years ago, even after it came under scrutiny in 2012 for awarding $56 million in grants to research that wasn’t properly vetted. CPRIT’s director resigned and after a change in leadership, CPRIT has continued to thrive as a medical research engine, awarding more than $3.7 billion in grants so far.

It is now the largest cancer research investment effort, second to the federal government. It has helped recruit 324 researchers to Texas and assisted in either the establishment, expansion or relocation of 74 companies to the state.

“The legislative decision to create this agency via constitutional amendment, and the overwhelming support of the people of Texas, provides CPRIT with the long-term stability needed to take on a task as big as conquering cancer,” said CPRIT CEO Kristen Doyle this week, recognizing the organization’s 15th anniversary.

Growing Alzheimer risk in Texas

Alzheimer’s, a degenerative brain disease, is the most common form of dementia, accounting for about 80% of cases, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Alzheimer’s symptoms — memory loss and the inability to perform simple tasks — tend to develop in the mid-to-late 60s and occur when clumps of abnormal proteins block the communication of brain cells. Symptoms can be mild at first and worsen over time.

Of the nearly 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s, nearly two-thirds are women, and dementia care costs Americans more than $300 billion a year.

While a 2023 study shows that the eastern and southeastern United States have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s, Texas is one of three states that has the highest estimated number of older residents who are at risk of Alzheimer’s. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that 459,000 Texans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, about 12% of the state’s population over the age of 65.

In Texas, the Rio Grande Valley, where residents are almost as twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, has become a dementia research center.

Paying for a “bold vision”

News of a fund for dementia being made possible next year has been praised by health advocates.

Andy Keller, president and CEO of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, called it a “bold vision” for treating and ultimately curing dementia and related neurological disorders.

“Upon passage, the state that put a man on the moon and is leading the charge against cancer will hold the incredible potential to prevent, treat, and cure the neurological diseases that affect so many Texans,” Keller said.

The Alzheimer’s Association, which advocates for more research, also voiced their support of Patrick’s efforts.

“Our shared goal is to enhance the quality of life for those currently affected by Alzheimer’s while working toward a future with better treatment options and, ultimately, a cure,” said Melissa Sanchez, Texas senior director of public policy for the association.

At the University of Texas Systemwide Brain Research Summit on Tuesday, Dr. John Zerwas, the vice chancellor for health affairs for the UT System, interviewed Huffman, Craddick and neurosurgeon and state Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, about Patrick’s proposal, hitting on how research efforts like CPRIT have helped make Texas a better magnet for bioscience research. This has happened even while the state falls near the bottom in the amount of per-capita funding it receives for research from the National Institutes of Health.

“Because Texas is an exceptionally large state, well populated, we rank only 30th across the nation,” said Zerwas, a former state lawmaker.

Huffman replied that lawmakers are always looking for a way to draw down more federal dollars and if spending more state funds brings more federal cash to Texas, that’s an opportunity worth considering.

“They always say Texas is a donor state, which means we, you know, we pay more federal income tax than what we get from the federal government,” Huffman said. “That’s just the truth. And so when we see opportunities to make good investments that are sound investments that support Texas’s values and our goals, then we take that opportunity.”

As for how it will be funded, none of the three lawmakers committed to one method.

“There’s more than one way to do it,” Bonnen said. “Almost anything is going to move the ball forward.”

Disclosure: University of Texas System has been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.