Friday, November 1, 2013

Spotlight: Farron McIntee

Each week we will be picking members to spotlight to tell their Alzheimer's story and why they are running in this year's New York City marathon. Check in each day for new updates on who will be spotlighted and get to know your teammates...(each person is picked at random)


I joined Team Run to Remember/Athletes to End Alzheimer’s disease in 2011. I was 6 months shy of completing my doctoral thesis, which investigated the biological mechanisms of risk factors and identified potential biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease.  I’d qualified to run the NYC marathon through the NYRR 9+1 program and when I saw that the Alzheimer’s Association was a charity partner I applied to the team. At the time, I saw it as a way for me to honor my grandfather who suffered from dementia, my great-uncle who died of Alzheimer’s disease and my great-aunt who currently has vascular dementia, and to give back. My thesis work was supported by grants made to my thesis advisor’s laboratory; another research grant from the Alzheimer’s Association allows a research project based on my thesis to be continued by another graduate student.

Through my participation with the team over the past 3 years, I’ve been deeply touched and inspired by the stories of my teammates. I continue because Alzheimer’s disease does not yet have a cure, method of prevention or effective long-term treatment. Alzheimer’s disease receives a comparatively small portion of federal government research grants, which are continuously shrinking, which is why grants provided by Alzheimer’s Association are so important. Continuing to raise awareness and advocating for legislation that is appropriate to the impact that Alzheimer’s has on our society is one of the best ways to help change the course of this terrible disease.  History has taught me that groups of like-minded individuals can make a difference and I believe that we will! I optimistically look forward to gathering with my Run to Remember/Athletes to End Alzheimer’s teammates sometime in the not so distant future to celebrate the discovery of an Alzheimer’s cure or treatment. 

1 comment:

  1. Dr Farron, you are helping to find that cure in so many ways. So proud of my BFF

    ReplyDelete