An American billionaire has made the largest philanthropic donation in Irish history by giving €138 million to Trinity College to help fund research into a cure for dementia. major new research centre aimed at tackling the looming dementia epidemic is to be launched later today by Taoiseach Enda Kenny at Trinity College Dublin during a live link-up with the University of California. Affecting more than 48 million people around the world, 50,000 in Ireland, dementia is fast becoming a major health challenge, with the numbers suffering from it expected to double every 20 years. Chuck Feeney, who heads Atlantic Philanthropies, announced plans to give €138.4 million towards the establishment of this centre, dubbed the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), Monday evening. “Our goal is to create a generation of leaders around the world who have the knowledge, skills and drive to change both the practice of dementia care and the public health and societal forces that affect brain health,” said Christopher G. Oechsli, president and CEO of The Atlantic Philanthropies. “By doing so, we hope to reduce dramatically the number of older people who develop this disease, which affects disproportionally those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, and consumes not just the millions directly afflicted, but their families and caregivers as well.” Also available at the new institute will be a one-year ‘Scholars’ programme for people from “all types of environments”. “We want to train leaders, not just in medicine and public policy, but also social science, journalism, law, business and the arts, who can teach others about the preventable causes of cognitive impairment, which disproportionately affect the poor,” said UCSF’s Professor Bruce Miller ahead of the projects launch. Speaking ahead of the event, Mr Kenny said: "The Atlantic Philanthropies’ support over the last 20 years for research in the biomedical area has enabled Trinity College to become a recognised leader in ageing research. “This, however, forms only a part of Chuck Feeney's educational and research legacy in this country for which we are very grateful. “The Government’s vision is to make Ireland the ‘best country in which to grow old’ and we are delighted that Ireland is a part of this ambitious global initiative." Online Editors
The largest philanthropic donation in the history of the Republic of Ireland is to fund a new dementia research institute at Trinity College Dublin. The €138.4m gift by Atlantic Philanthropies will enable the creation of the Global Brain Health Institute, which will be jointly based at the University of California, San Francisco. “The sum donated is huge, but so too is the problem we are trying to solve,” said Patrick Prendergast, president and provost of Trinity. “There is no doubt in my mind that this imaginative project will bring benefits to people around the world, create jobs here in Ireland and deepen Trinity’s expertise in neuroscience and ageing,” he added.