Throughout June, patients and advocates across the nation are acknowledging Alzheimer and Brain Awareness Month. HudsonAlpha hosted a room naming ceremony on June 5, 2019 to recognize a generous donation made to the HudsonAlpha Foundation to help fund research into neurodegenerative diseases. Peri Widener and her mother Luanne Widener made a recent gift to the Wayne, Luanne and Peri Widener Fund for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases, which was established in 2013 to fuel new research at HudsonAlpha.

(L to R) Rick Myers, PhD, HudsonAlpha president and science director, Peri Widener, Luanne Widener

Peri’s father, Wayne Widener, lived for more than a decade with a rare neurodegenerative disease called corticobasal degeneration (CBD). After his diagnosis, Wayne and his family spent years consulting specialists before finally learning there is no current treatment. The auditorium located in 601 Genome Way is now named in his honor.

“What sustains you through these kinds of things is hope. And hope comes from organizations like HudsonAlpha,” said Peri Widener. “It comes from breakthroughs, it comes from science, it comes from study. You don’t give up, you stay focused on what you can do to change and make things better.”

The Wayne, Luanne and Peri Widener Fund for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases benefits the HudsonAlpha Foundation’s Memory and Mobility Program, which supports neurodegenerative disease research. The Widener family has committed to matching all donations to the Memory and Mobility Program (up to $200,000) until the end of 2019. Visit hudsonalpha.org/mm-give to help fuel HudsonAlpha’s work in neurodegenerative research and double your donation.

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