WS Chronicle

Merck & Co. Inc. has awarded a $1 million grant to the College of Arts and Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University to support its new Center for Outreach Alzheimer’s, Aging and Community Health.

Dr. Goldie Byrd, dean of the college of arts and sciences

“N.C. A&T State University is excited about the proposed center, which will significantly expand the university’s capacity to impact education, outreach and policy in Alzheimer’s and aging,” said Dr. Goldie Byrd, dean of the college of arts and sciences. “The Center will attract an interdisciplinary team of faculty, staff and students across the College of Arts and Sciences, and the university, to conduct community based outreach activities that influence healthy aging.”

The center will be located in the college of arts and sciences.  It will create outreach and educational  programs and resources that will foster the creation of translational research, positively influence curricula in aging, and advance research funding opportunities and faculty scholarship in Alzheimer’s, aging and healthy living.

“Merck is pleased to be part of the remarkable effort by North Carolina A&T State University to establish a new Center for Outreach in Alzheimer’s, Aging and Community Health that will improve education about this debilitating disease while increasing support to Alzheimer’s patients and their families,” said Willie A. Deese, a N.C. A&T alumnus and chair of the A&T board of trustees, who is a Merck executive vice president and president of the company’s manufacturing division.  “The new Center’s goal to create a pipeline of researchers and social support personnel to combat this disease is very much aligned with the Merck mission to preserve and improve human life.”

The grant will be awarded in three annual installments. The first was received last month and totaled $400,000. The final two of $300,000 each will be awarded on Dec. 31, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2014.