UCI MIND

Understanding the basic mechanisms of brain aging while developing effective treatments for neurodegenerative disorders of the brain is of local and national importance. People over 65 years old are the fastest growing segment of the American population. Today, this cohort comprises 12 percent of the population, although it is expected that the percentage of people over 65 will increase to 20 percent of the population, or 54 million individuals, by the year 2020. Maintaining cognitive function is vitally important to the quality of life for seniors. With age, however, the odds of falling victim to dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease in particular, increase markedly. Dementias afflict roughly 12 percent of the 65-74 year-old population and alarmingly 47% of people older than 85.

Orange County is one of the fastest growing national metropolitan sites today and has more than 30,000 individuals suffering from AD. The region’s geriatric population is expected to double in the next 20 years. With a diverse ethnic population, Orange County is projected to have a nearly 60% non-Caucasian population in the next 20 years. The diagnosis, management and treatment of dementia are major challenges permeating all levels of social and economic status in a diversity of cultures. The community looks to the University and the Institute for leadership, and in turn the Institute seeks to meet the needs of a local population by providing scholarly education and discoveries to a populace severely impacted by the disease. The Institute is well positioned to meet emerging research needs in the field and to translate these findings to relevant clinical practice in the local community.