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The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s
Fourteenth Annual Connoisseur's Event Honors
the Dolby Family with the Chairman’s Award
Evening Celebrates History of Signature
Event, Art,
and Advances for a Cure
The
Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), the only
nonprofit solely devoted to finding new drugs to prevent,
treat and cure Alzheimer’s, presented its Fourteenth Annual
Virtual Connoisseur's Event on Monday, May 10. The
event raised over $1.3 million to advance the ADDF’s
mission.
Special guests included opera legend Andrea Bocelli,
philanthropist Dagmar Dolby and her son David Dolby of Dolby
Family Ventures, ADDF Co-Chairmen and Co-Founders Leonard A.
and Ronald S. Lauder, Emmy award-winning journalist Paula
Zahn, and Michael Macaulay of Sotheby’s, who gave an
advanced preview of the art from their spring auction.
Connoisseur’s Dinner Founding Chair Nancy Corzine opened up
the event with the story of how she and Leonard Lauder first
created the dinner to be the ADDF’s signature event 14 years
ago, adding, “The greatest gift I’ve been given is the honor
to be the first board member of ADDF and then to be the
first board president.”
During the special evening that commemorated the origin and
history of the foundation, Randal Sandler, Co-Vice Chair and
Secretary of the ADDF’s Board of Governors, described this
year’s event as a “nod to our past and an exciting glimpse
of our future.” Mr. Sandler also provided an update on
exciting developments in new therapeutic approaches for
treating Alzheimer’s, with a focus on several phase 2
clinical trials that are exploring novel targets for
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, as well as
discussing the advancements being made with diagnostic
tests.
ADDF board member and nine-time Emmy award-winning
journalist Paula Zahn interviewed ADDF co-founders, Leonard
A. and Ronald S. Lauder. Mr. Leonard Lauder expressed his
optimism, saying, “We’ve made progress every year and every
day. It’s not going to happen overnight, but we are en
route!” Mr. Ronald Lauder emphasized the importance of
prevention, saying, “Being able to slow the progression of
Alzheimer’s will have a huge impact.” The ADDF currently
supports 19 active prevention trials and invests in
biomarkers and diagnostic tools that can be used to
determine the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s and help
to improve clinical trial design.
In keeping with tradition, there was an exclusive preview of
the spring auction from ADDF featured partner Sotheby’s
presented by Michael Macaulay, Senior VP at Sotheby’s. A
variety of artwork by legendary artists was shown, including
pieces by Roy Lichtenstein, Claude Monet, Jean-Michel
Basquiat, and Paul Cézanne.
Guests were treated to a performance by opera legend and
Alzheimer’s advocate Andrea Bocelli, who dedicated his
performance of Ave Maria to the millions of patients and
caregivers battling Alzheimer’s in a special message from
him and his wife, Veronica Berti Bocelli.
Philanthropist Dagmar Dolby and her son David Dolby, who is
also an active technology investor and CEO of Dolby Family
Ventures, are long-time supporters of the ADDF and were
honored for their remarkable leadership and commitment to
defeating Alzheimer’s.
The Dolbys accepted the 11th Chairman’s Award on
behalf of the thousands of researchers “willing to live with
a sense of uncertainty, to work in the darkness, and to work
towards an answer.” Mrs. Dolby added, “They are the heroes
that I – that all of us – are deeply indebted to.” Mr. Dolby
shared that Dolby Family Ventures is how he honors his
father, Ray Dolby, Founder of Dolby Laboratories, and that
“if he were here today, he would be even more excited about
supporting this type of research, and I feel very proud to
represent him in that type of way.”
About the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery
Foundation
Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. and Ronald S.
Lauder, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation is
dedicated to rapidly accelerating the discovery of drugs to
prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer's disease. The ADDF is the
only public charity solely focused on funding the
development of drugs for Alzheimer's, employing a venture
philanthropy model to support research in academia and the
biotech industry. Through the generosity of its donors, the
ADDF has awarded over $168 million to fund more than 650
Alzheimer's drug discovery and biomarker programs and
clinical trials in 19 countries. And 100% of every donation
funds drug research programs. To learn more, visit http://www.alzdiscovery.org |