UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center

It's Husky Giving Day! Thank you for supporting the University of Washington Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC).

Give here: https://together.uw.edu/i/hgd/Campaign/alzheimers-disease-research-center

New advances in Alzheimer’s disease research—including blood-based biomarker tests and emerging treatments for the early stages of memory loss—are transforming how we detect, understand, and treat this disease. Gifts made on Husky Giving Day will help accelerate the use of biomarker testing to better understand the biological mechanisms of resilience to Alzheimer’s disease and why some individuals maintain cognitive function longer than expected, even in the presence of disease-related changes.

Join us for this special 24 hours to amplify the impact of your gift and invest in a brighter future for individuals and families affected by memory loss.

Challenge Gift:
The first 20 gifts of $100 or more will unlock a $50,000 gift to the ADRC, generously provided by Patty & Jimmy Barrier.

Thank you for supporting science and the ADRC!

It's Husky Giving Day! We invite you to support the Memory Hub's nature-based programming and Maude’s Garden!

Give here: https://together.uw.edu/i/uw/campaign/the-memory-hub

Your gifts on Husky Giving Day this year will help fund the 2026–2027 season of the SOAR (Shared Outdoor Adventures for Resilience) program, which kicks off each summer. SOAR provides outdoor adventures, social connection, and physical activity for people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s before age 65 who often feel alone in their experience.

Gifts will also support the maintenance of Maude’s Garden in all its seasonal beauty, as well as other nature-based engagement programs inspired by the garden.

Join us for this special 24 hours to further the impact of your gift and help create connection, joy, and resilience for those navigating life with memory loss.

Challenge Gift:
The first 20 gifts will unlock a $20,000 gift to the Memory Hub!

We are excited to join our community partner The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration at the AFTD 2026 Education Conference, coming to the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington on April 30 - May 1, 2026.
People diagnosed, care partners, families, friends, healthcare professionals, and researchers are invited to connect with people who understand the journey, learn about available resources and supports, and engage with experts (including some from the MBWC!), to gain insight on the latest in FTD research and approaches to care. Sign up: https://www.theaftd.org/event/aftd-2026-education-conference/

You can learn more about FTD and the local resources available for support, care, and research on our website: https://depts.washington.edu/mbwc/resources/ftd

AFTD 2026 Education Conference | AFTD The AFTD 2026 Education Conference is coming to the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington in Seattle on April 30 - May 1, 2026. A free livestream will also be

Bringing Community Back to Families Living with Dementia

AARP highlights our Center's role in the statewide effort to grow Memory Cafes, through free trainings and local partnerships.
https://www.aarp.org/states/washington/bringing-community-back-to-families-living-with-dementia/

Memory Cafes are welcoming social gatherings for people living with cognitive changes or dementia at any stage, along with the people who care about them – including family members, friends, and professional caregivers. Cafes provide a time to socialize and participate in meaningful and joyful programming. Learn more on our website: https://depts.washington.edu/mbwc/resources/memory-cafes-wa

Bringing Community Back to Families Living with Dementia A statewide effort to grow Memory Cafes, through free training and local partnerships

A gift of more than $8 million from University of Washington alumni Cherie and Ray Wilson will support education and research across the University of Washington, including UW Medicine’s BRaIN Laboratory.

Their bequest will help advance research on brain injury and disease, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and traumatic brain injury, supporting work that aims to improve future patient care.

Read the full story on UW News: https://bit.ly/4cham8M

Upcoming event! A Maude's Garden Herbal Tea Workshop
Friday, March 20, 2 pm - 3:30

Spend a relaxing afternoon with others living with memory loss and family and friends. Prepare, brew, and enjoy a warm cup of garden herb tea. This program will be held indoors, with a view of Maude’s Garden. A free event. Space is limited to 12 participants. https://tinyurl.com/memoryhubtea2026

The Impact of Alzheimer’s and Dementia in the Community
An education program presented by the Alzheimer's Association, Washington State Chapter

Featuring Seattle's Aging and Disability Services
February 24, 2026, 9 am - 11 am at The Memory Hub

Featuring refreshed content and the latest insights from the U.S. POINTER study, this presentation is perfect for broad community audiences seeking to understand Alzheimer’s, risk reduction, and how to get involved. We have also invited Mary Pat O’Leary from the Seattle Aging and Disability Services Division to come educate us on how ADS can help caregivers of those with dementia, behaviors and medication management for dementia, and more!

How to register:https://depts.washington.edu/mbwc/content/event-files/Awareness_with_Mary_Pat__Leary_22426_18_.pdf

Featured in The Seattle Times, Sarah McKiddy, a UW Nursing Ph.D. student, is studying the connection between music, brain health, and dementia in a project at The Memory Hub.

McKiddy is working with Seattle Chamber Music Society's the Balourdet Quartet, to create music-based memory-loss programs to boost participants' sense of self and well-being.

"I think it’s a really powerful memory cue, because it’s so tied to our identity and relationships,” McKiddy said. That can extend to people’s identities, or their connections to family or society."

The ‘powerful memory cue’ that can bring comfort to those with dementia Researchers are studying how music can help those living with dementia connect to others and the world around them.

We are so excited that our community partner, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, is bringing the 2026 Education Conference here to Seattle in May! People diagnosed, care partners, families, friends, healthcare professionals, and researchers are invited to connect with people who understand the journey, learn about available resources and supports, and engage with experts to gain insight on the latest in FTD research and approaches to care.

Sign up to be notified when registration opens in February 2026 https://www.theaftd.org/education-conference-2026/

Check out the latest resource from our Dementia Friends Washington program: On Demand informations sessions!

Interested in becoming a Dementia Friend, but not able to attend a scheduled session?

Great news: We have another option for you! Use the following link below to participate in the online on-demand session, any time, at your convenience:
https://tinyurl.com/DFWAOnDemand



NWRC - Human services with you at the center Camano Center Homage Senior Services UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center The Memory Hub Area Agency on Aging & Disabilities of Southwest Washington Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging Olympic Area Agency on Aging - Information & Assistance SE WA Aging & Long Term Care Aging & Long Term Care of Eastern Washington

View our latest newsletter to stay connected to research, care, and community programs at the UW Memory and Brain Wellness Center! https://conta.cc/49k9m2n

PBS NewsHour featured the UW Medicine UW Alzheimer's Disease Research Center efforts to engage Native Americans in brain health research. The ADRC collaborates with Washington State University and uses fellow Native Americans to not only help recruit participants into the study, but to also help guide them throughout the research process.

"Native Americans are very hesitant about volunteering for these types of things. And that comes historically from studies that were involuntarily done on Native American people," explains 76-year-old Linda Holt, a Native American and former health director of the Suquamish Tribe. She is enrolled in the UW ADRC study. Holt says she is interested in research because she wants to help her community.

"How this disease impacts families interested me as far as coming up with ways to prevent it, ways to stop it once it develops, ways to cure it," she says in this PBS segment.

UW Medicine is working to expand research by actively recruiting Native Americans, already with nearly 40 participants, and the goal of enrolling 100 in the next few years.

There is more momentum in this culturally informed effort than ever, thanks to the dedication of participants like Linda Holt and the sustained funding for the ADRC's and UW Bio-Repository and Integrated Neuropathology - Brain Laboratory. Watch this PBS NewHour to learn more.

Why Native Americans are facing high rates of mental decline It’s estimated that around 7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, a number that’s expected to double by 2060. But researchers have found that some of the highest rates of cognitive impairment and dementia exist in a population that’s long been one of the most difficult to study: Nativ...