06/11/2026
News Media Release
For Immediate Release: June 11, 2026
Stone County Health Department nurse, Felicia Beasley and her husband Grant were able to attend the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) Advocacy Forum in Washington DC last week for the second year in a row. The event is an opportunity for participants to hear the latest information on research, medications and legislation to support the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias. The couple joined 7 other individuals from across Missouri and hundreds of people from across all 50 states who have a shared interest in eradicating this terrible disease.
Over three days in the Nation’s Capital, the group heard from multiple speakers including journalist Richard Liu who shared his journey in caring for his father who was diagnosed and has since passed from Alzheimer’s disease. They also heard from Senator Andy Kim, whose father also has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s recently. Ironically his father was a geneticist who primarily did research in Alzheimer’s disease. Kim says that “Alzheimer’s disease has erased my father’s life work from his memory”. He is one Senator who has committed to co-sponsoring bi-partisan legislation currently in Congress. Senator Jerry Moran is another of those congressmen. He stressed to attendees that medical research needs to remain non-partisan and said his goal is to eventually make the Alzheimer’s Association unnecessary.
Dr Jay Battacharya, the current director of the National Institute of Health was also a presenter, and he was quite optimistic on the current research. He stated that currently Alzheimer’s dementia costs the United States roughly $800 billion dollars a year in treatment and care. He stated that five years from now, he expects to have patient centered preventative treatments available if we continue to invest and fund research.
The Lt Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick spoke to attendees about Texas’s voters’ recent approval of a landmark $3 billion in state-funded research. That is the largest single-state investment in the disease’s research to date. For Missourians the majority of Alzheimer’s research is currently ongoing at the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis. It’s incredibly likely that the cure for this terrible disease could come from Missouri. Also, representatives from pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Eisai presented the newest medications in the pipeline and currently available for the disease.
In between educational sessions, the Beasley’s had the opportunity to meet with legislative assistants of several Missouri lawmakers. The goal of these meetings is to educate lawmakers about bi-partisan legislation currently in Congress this session. The Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention Act or ASAP is one of those. Currently Medicare can’t cover the blood test to detect Alzheimer’s before the symptoms appear. Alzheimer’s researchers are calling this the “mammogram moment” for this disease. Through the ASAP act, Congress can approve Medicare to cover the simple one-time only screening to detect the biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease. Just like mammograms or colon cancer screenings.
Many of the medications available for Alzheimer’s currently need to be started as early as possible to have the most significant effect. Often times people are only diagnosed with Alzheimer’s after the signs and symptoms have become obvious to their families. It can be too late to begin the medications. People who have a family history of Alzheimer’s or other concerns would be able to have themselves screened for the disease long before the signs become apparent. The recent U.S. Pointer study has also shown that lifestyle modification Is effective in reducing cognitive decline in older adults as well. That makes a blood test much more important.
For the Beasley’s Alzheimer’s is a very personal fight. Grant lost his father, grandmother and three aunts to the disease. “I’ve had four generations of Alzheimer’s dementia in my family and that makes this simple blood screening test very important to me” says Beasley. Spouse, Felicia agrees. “Not only could medications and interventions begin early, but we could prepare financially and emotionally as a family. This is just as important to our children.” It’s also important to Felicia to use her role as the local health department nurse to educate and equip Stone County residents about Alzheimer’s. “Unfortunately, an Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis is like a slow-motion trauma. The disease is so devious, stealing away our loved one’s bit by bit. I hold a lot of people in my heart as I do this work”.
Stone County Health Department does have some Alzheimer’s education and discussion planned in the future. Please follow our page for information or call at 417-272-0050.
For More Information: U.S. Pointer Study: https://www.alz.org/us-pointer Knight Alzheimer Disease research https://knightadrc.wustl.edu/ Alzheimer’s Impact Movement: https://alzimpact.org/ Stone County Health Department https://stonecountyhealthdepartment.com/
For more information:
Felicia Beasley RN, BSN, BJ
417-272-0050 ext 2206
