The Gorrie family, whose Brasfield & Gorrie is one of the country’s largest privately held construction firms, has given the University of Alabama at Birmingham a $10 million gift to fight Alzheimer’s.
The renamed Frances Gorrie Alzheimer’s Disease Center at UAB will accelerate research into and strengthen dementia care across Alabama.
“Alzheimer’s disease has touched far too many families, including people I care deeply about,” said Miller Gorrie, founder of Brasfield & Gorrie. “Supporting UAB’s work is my way of honoring those journeys and helping move us closer to better treatments, more hope and, one day, a cure.”
UAB called the gift “transformative.”
“The Gorrie gift in support of the UAB Alzheimer’s Disease Center comes at an exciting and critical moment,” said David Standaert, M.D., Ph.D., John N. Whitaker Professor and chair of the UAB Department of Neurology. “Research has brought us new discoveries and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions, and more are in the pipeline. At the same time, the aging of our population means that more people and families will be impacted by these conditions. This gift will accelerate the process of discovery, support the training of additional specialists, and help us to empower the Alabama community with knowledge and access to care.”
