In November, Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment to invest $3 billion in dementia research over the next decade. While a lawsuit is currently delaying implementation of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT), the initiative aims to make Texas a national leader in dementia research and prevention—driving scientific breakthroughs, attracting top researchers and creating jobs across Texas.
Join us Wednesday, Jan. 21 when we’ll consider what this investment means for Texas and Texans once it moves forward. How will funds be distributed, how are institutions competing for grants, and how could this work translate into better prevention, care and support for Texans living with dementia and the caregivers who support them?
Join us at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the Tribune's Studio 919 and online.Â
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Speakers include Karen Fingerman, professor of human development and family sciences; director, Texas Aging and Longevity Center at The University of Texas at Austin, Melissa Sanchez, Texas state policy director of the Alzheimer’s Association, and Gladys Maestre, MD, director, Memory & Aging Center, UT Rio Grande Valley; professor of neuroscience at the UTRGV School of Medicine.
Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. and the hourlong conversation will begin at 9 a.m.
Parking will not be provided. Street and garage parking as well as ride-sharing are recommended.
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Coffee will be provided by The Tribune.
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This in-person event will be simultaneously streamed for virtual attendees and will be available to watch on demand afterward at texastribune.org/events.
Email us at events@texastribune.org
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Fingerman is the Sonia Wilson professor of human ecology and professor of human development and family sciences at UT Austin. She studies adult development and aging, in particular social and emotional aspects of aging and assessments in daily life. She is currently the director of the Texas Longevity Consortium and the research director of the NIA-funded Center on Aging & Population Sciences.
Maestre is a physician-scientist who is recognized for her contributions to aging and neurodegenerative research. She is the director of the Memory and Aging Center, where she leads the Rio Grande Valley Alzheimer's Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research and co-directs the South Texas Alzheimer's Disease Research Center; the National Institute of Aging of the National Institutes of Health funds both Centers. She also spearheads the Maracaibo Aging Study - a study of dementia and other age-related health problems that has followed more than 2,500 subjects since 1998. Since 2016, Dr. Maestre has led a multidisciplinary team to understand the high prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in the Rio Grande Valley and to develop strategies to mitigate their impact, while also advancing neuroscience research and education in low- and middle-income countries worldwide.
Sanchez is the Texas Senior Director of Public Policy for the Alzheimer’s Association, where she leads state and federal advocacy efforts across the organization’s six Texas chapters. For more than 10 years, she has worked with policymakers, partners, and grassroots advocates to advance policies that improve care, support, and outcomes for Texans living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Her work is driven by personal experience. She advocates in honor of her paternal grandmother, who died from Alzheimer’s disease in 2011, her maternal grandfather, who died with dementia last year (2025), and in support of her maternal grandmother who is currently living with dementia. She holds a B.A. from the University of San Diego and a J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.
Langford is the Tribune's health services reporter based in Austin. Langford is a veteran journalist, having worked at the Florida Times Union, The Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, WNYC, Honolulu Civil Beat and Texas Standard/KUT. Langford has a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin. She has covered various city and state agencies, criminal justice and health and human services for the Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The Associated Press, WNYC and Texas Standard at KUT.
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