Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Alzheimer’s center support

Shriver joins board for project planned in downtown LV

The Alzheimer's research center planned for downtown Las Vegas will reach out to those suffering from other neurological disorders, and a national celebrity has joined the advisory board.

California first lady Maria Shriver is a new member of the Keep Memory Alive Foundation's advisory board, officials said. The foundation is overseeing fundraising and construction of the $50 million Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Institute, which is planned to be part of the development on the city's 61 acres on the western edge of downtown.

The latest plan for the center is that it will provide office space for family support groups and organizations that help patients who have Parkinson's or Huntington's diseases, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is more commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, said Zaven Khachaturian, who is organizing parts of the Ruvo center's program.

Construction of the Ruvo Institute is expected to begin in August and is expected to take about two years to complete. World-renowned architect Frank Gehry is designing the building.

Preliminary drawings from Gehry show the building as a pile of giant squares and rectangles. However, Clark County Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald, who is also president of the Keep Memory Alive Foundation, said the final design of the building "could look totally different."

Shriver and her spokeswoman could not be reached for comment, and her office did not return telephone messages left Friday and Monday. But foundation Chairman Larry Ruvo said Shriver has agreed to become a member of the group's advisory board and will be one of the key speakers at the foundation's Feb. 11 fundraiser at the MGM Grand.

"She's going to auction herself off for a lunch or dinner," Ruvo said, adding that Shriver's father suffers from Alzheimer's, as Ruvo's did.

In addition to helping with fundraising, Maria Shriver's participation also helps increase the awareness of Alzheimer's, Khachaturian said.

Boggs McDonald said Shriver's participation will help bring national recognition to the Las Vegas center.

Khachaturian does as well. He holds a doctorate in neurophysiology, was director of the Office of Alzheimer's Research at the National Institutes of Health from 1977 to 1995, and was the founding director of the Chicago-based Nancy and Ronald Reagan Research Institute of the Alzheimer's Association, where he worked until 2002.

He is helping formulate the program for the Las Vegas center and overseeing the formation of think tanks that will look at health care issues.

The Ruvo Institute is planned to be a center for research, including clinical trials, and will provide outpatient care to Alzheimer's patients. Ruvo said the foundation has already raised about $20 million, plus has commitments for another $5 million.

"We need about $20 million more plus $5 million in equipment," he said.

Dan Kulin can be reached at (702) 259-8826 or at [email protected].

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