In partnership with several Pennsylvania institutions, Penn received $5 million for the study of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and $1.6 million to investigate tobacco use.
Five health research grants totaling approximately $20 million -- taken from Pennsylvania's share of a national settlement with the tobacco industry -- were announced by state Health Secretary Calvin Johnson last week.
Estimated at approximately $11 billion between the years 2000 and 2025, the state's share is being used for health-related initiatives, according to state Department of Health officials.
Penn and area institutions will research brain abnormalities caused by Alzheimer's and Parkinson's that lead to dementia.
"These grants will enable us to actively improve the health of many Pennsylvanians," Johnson said.
Christopher Clark, the director of the Memory Disorders Clinic and co-director of the Alzheimer's Disease Center, said that neurodegenerative disease research hopes to discover the early causes and indicators of these diseases.
"Treatment has to target the pathology, not the symptoms," Clark said, adding that biological changes to the brain may occur 10 to 20 years before the symptoms of dementia are observed.
He noted that the detection of biological changes through MRI and PET scans can lead to earlier diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases.
The early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's would slow the deterioration of quality of life for some patients, Clark said.
Funds will also go to Penn's Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center, which seeks to understand of the role of genetics and bio-behavioral mechanisms in tobacco addiction.
Research will be conducted to measure the effectiveness and safety of a new medication in treating tobacco dependence, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Other initiatives funded by the tobacco settlement dollars include one by the University of Pittsburgh, Cellumen Inc., Carnegie Mellon University and other institutions -- which received $4.9 million to develop new cognitive-impairment screening methods.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will work with the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Lehigh Valley Hospital, Drexel University and St. Joseph's University on a $5 million study. The research will compare the effectiveness of two behavioral therapies for reducing smoking in depressed adolescents in underserved minority communities.
