CART News

CART Fund Awards Record Grant Totals in 2024

After a record fundraising year and an increased number of grant applications, the Executive Committee of The CART Fund, under the direction and advice of the Scientific Review Panel, has announced the organization will award a record $1.4 million in Alzheimer's research grants in 2024.

The top award, the Roger Ackerman Memorial Grant for $300,000, will be presented to Ana Griciuc, Ph.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Her project is titled “Utilizing CD33-targeting antisense
oligonucleotides to reduce Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology.”

The next award, the Dr. John Trojanowski Memorial Grant for $300,000, will be presented to Amy Nelson, Ph.D., from Gulf Coast Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Her research will focus on “Determining the role of caldesmon in MCI/AD pericyte vascular function."

Dr. Marcia Gordon, Ph.D., from Michigan State University will also receive a $300,000 grant to study the “Role of Microglial Cellular Senescence in a Mouse Model with Amyloid-Induced Tauopathy."

Two additional grant awards of $250,000 each will be presented to: 

Margaret Pericak-Vance, Ph.D. (University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine): “Understanding the complex interplay between genetic factors and social determinants of health in AD risk."

Nicholas Tonks, Ph.D. (NCI Cancer Center, Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory (New York, NY):  “ A new
approach to treatment of Alzheimer’s disease through inhibitors of PTP1B”.

The five grant recipients will attend The C|ART Fund's Annual Meeting in May in Columbia, SC, to receive the first installment of their grant and to give a brief presentation on their research. The public is invited to attend the event on Tuesday, May 7, at Seawell's. The cost to attend is $45 and includes buffet lunch.  Guests can also attend by zoom at no charge, but registration is required for either option.



 

St Petersburg Rotary Golf Tournament Was A Big HIT

The Rotary Club of St Petersburg (FL-District 6950) recently made a $52,000 contribution to CART! These were the proceeds from their November golf tournament. We are so grateful for the leadership of Sherri Crouse and her team for their support of our efforts to #EndALZ!!

Rotary Club of Anderson (SC) Donates $10,000

Our Executive Director, Tiffany Ervin, was honored to be speak at the Rotary Club of Anderson (SC-D7750) recently and boy was she surprised by their gift of $10,000 to CART!! Apparently they were listening when she challenged them months ago to set a "stretch goal" and when she even promised to wear orange if they achieved their goal... We all know how difficult this was for her, but anything for CART!

CART VP Carol Burdette and Club President Liz Brock presented the check along with volunteers Hugh & Rita Burgess!

Winder, GA Rotary Contribution

Thank you to the Rotary Club of Winder (GA-D6910) on their recent contribution to CART recognizing Rotary's annual Disease Prevention & Treatment Awareness Month!! They invited District CART Chair Elaine Cook to attend a club meeting for the presentation!

 Well done by these #PeopleOfAction!!!

CART VP Recognized

Congratulations to our CART Vice President Carol Burdette who received an honorary doctorate degree recently from Anderson University! She’s the perfect example of #peopleofaction! #RotaryGeek

McRae Rotary Club Holiday Parade (GA-District 6920)

Thank you to the Rotary Club of McRae (GA-D6920) for including us in their priorities and their support at their community's annual holiday parade! Together we will #endalz! #Peopleofaction #RotaryGeek

Naples (FL) Rotary Club Donation

Thank you to the Rotary Club of Naples (FL-District 6960) for EXCEEDING their fundraising goal for The CART Fund and presenting a check recently to our Executive Director Tiffany Ervin.  The club has raised $2,000 in the first three months of this Rotary year - we can't wait to see their final total!!

Casper, Wyoming Joins CART

THANK YOU to the Rotary Club of Casper (Wyoming-D5440)) for allowing us to introduce you to #TheCARTFund! We are so excited to have this Rotary district as part of our CART family! Thank you to volunteer-extraordinaire Jim Porter & DG Steve Sehnert for your support!

Looks like lots of coins and cash were collected on their first day when they enjoyed a "virtual" introduction to CART by Executive Director Tiffany Ervin via zoom.

Partnership with Civic Swag

We are excited to partner with Civic Swag in Georgia to provide additional CART branded items for our volunteers. Additionally, Civic Swag, a business owned by a Rotarian in Milledgeville, GA, has agreed to be an in-kind donor of social media tools and marketing services to assist us in sharing our message.

You can visit their website and learn more here!

CART Receives Million Dollar Donation

CART was honored to be the recent recipient of a one million dollar donation from a Rotarian in North Carolina. The gift, made from a donor-advised fund, will be used to support research grants to be awarded in May of 2024. The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, indicated his interest in helping find a cure for Alzheimer's and was willing to commit valuable resources to help the cause.

If you are interested in making a major gift to fund research for the prevention, treatment or cure for Alzheimer's Disease, or would like to discuss leaving a gift to CART in your estate, please contact Executive Director Tiffany Ervin.

What is CART?

We are often asked to explain who we are and what we do... here is a great training video from our 2023 Annual Meeting that you can use for more information or to share with others!

Click here to watch and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

 

Roger Ackerman Circle - Recurring Donor Program

THANK YOU to everyone who continues to support The CART Fund as a recurring donor and as a member of the newly-created "Roger Ackerman Circle." 

We are so excited to offer this limited-edition lapel pin for donors who commit to a recurring donation of a minimum of $5/month via our online donor portal!  If you have already enrolled but haven't yet received your pin, please let us know so we can make arrangements to present it soon!

If you haven't signed up yet, you still can! Just go to mycartfund.org to make a contribution & select “recurring gift” (monthly, quarterly or annually) 

 

Paddle for The Cure Raises $18,000 - Lake Wylie Rotary (SC)

The Rotary Club of Lake Wylie (SC) sponsored a "Paddle for the Cure" to benefit CART on April 15th at YMCA Camp Thunderbird, Lake Wylie, SC.  They raised more than $18,000 which was presented to our Executive Director at a recent club meeting. Rotary District 7750 Governor Joyce Moran was also on hand for the special presentation!

There were lots of activities, including 5K kayak and paddle boat races, a 2K race for the 12-17 year olds, a silent auction, live music, a 50/50, children activities and of course, great food. 

 

Meet Dr. Gopal Thinakaran (Univ. of South Florida)

Gopal Thinakaran, PhD
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

$250,000 Dr. John Q. Trojanowski Grant

CART Research: Epitranscriptomic Modulation of Tau Pathology through m6A RNA Methylation

Recent advances in large-scale sequence analysis have ignited an interest in the characterization of N6 - methyladenosine (m6 A) RNA modification. The m6 A is the most prevalent RNA methylation in eukaryotes. This RNA modification is initiated by methylases, removed by RNA demethylases, and recognized by m6 A-binding proteins, namely so-called m6 A writers, erasers, and readers. This dynamic and reversible modification has revealed a new dimension to gene expression by regulating protein synthesis, generating protein isoforms by splicing and editing, and modulating RNA lifespan.

You can watch a video of Dr. Thinakaran's presentation here. 
 

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Rotary Club of Greensboro, NC Donates $30,000 To CART

Thank you to the Rotary Club of Greensboro (NC) in Rotary District 7690 for their amazing donation to CART! Thanks to some generous donors, matching gifts and inspiration from club CART Chair Bobby Banes, the members contributed $30,000 to CART recently.

District Governor Debbie Scott was in attendance for the check presentation, along with CART Board President Rod Funderburk and Executive Director Tiffany Ervin.

Roger Ackerman Memorial Grant Awarded - $300,000

Dr. Antoine Louveau, Cleveland Clinic, was the recipient of a $300,000 grant in memory of CART founder Roger Ackerman.

CART Research: Integrin mediated communication between endothelial cells and pericytes regulates vascular function in Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of misfolded proteins, primarily amyloid beta and tau that lead to cognitive decline. Research focusing on the removal of misfolded protein has only had very limited clinical success, suggesting that other factors are essential to study.

Vascular dysfunction has recently appeared to be a key player in disease pathology, but we still know very little about how vascular function is altered in Alzheimer’s disease and how we can reverse it.

In this project, we have identified that CD49a, a protein of the integrin family, that mediate cell-cell interaction and anchoring of cells within their microenvironment, is a potential regulator of vascular function. With this grant, we will investigate the mechanisms that CD49a uses to regulate vascular function, and interrogate if manipulating CD49a in the brain is a therapeutic strategy to improve clinical symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease.

You can learn more from Dr. Louveau by watching his presentation here.

 

Rotary magazine - May Issue

Have you seen the May issue of the Rotary magazine? The CART Fund is honored to be featured on the cover and an extraordinary article inside!

You can read it online here.