The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute

The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute is a planned research center which is being built in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Institute will become a national resource for the most current research and scientific information for the treatment of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington 's diseases, as well as focusing on prevention, early detection and education.

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  The Institute will open in 2007 and operate an outpatient treatment and research institute in downtown Las Vegas on land deeded to Keep Memory Alive Foundation by the City of Las Vegas as part of its 61-acre Union Park Development.

The Institute will consist of approximately 50,000 square feet (5,000 m²) and will include 13 examination rooms, offices for health care practitioners and researchers, a “Museum of the Mind,” and a community auditorium. The Institute will also serve as the headquarters of the Keep Memory Alive foundation, the Las Vegas Alzheimer’s Association and the Las Vegas Parkinson’s Disease Association.

The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute will be designed by world-renowned architect, Frank Gehry of Gehry Partners in Santa Monica, California. Mr. Gehry’s portfolio includes such projects as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Time magazine has named Frank Gehry the world’s “greatest living architect.”

The Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Institute will form a partnership with the University of Nevada School of Medicine under the direction of Dr. Charles Bernick, M.D., a leader in the field of neurology and the treatment, research and care of Alzheimer's. Keep Memory Alive will move its administrative offices into the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Institute upon completion and will continue as the development arm of the Institute to unsure the recruitment of topflight researchers and practitioners, establish and maintain a perpetual endowment, and underwrite the operational cost of the facility. The 2005 Nevada Legislature recently appropriated $800,000 for physician salaries to assist in the recruitment of faculty/practitioners for the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Institute, commencing in the fiscal year 2007.

History

The Keep Memory Alive Foundation was founded by Larry Ruvo, senior managing partner of Southern Wines and Spirits, in memory of his father, Lou Ruvo, a victim of Alzheimer’s Disease, together with his wife Camille, Mirage Resorts CEO Bobby Baldwin,who also lost his father to Alzheimer's Disease, and Bobby Baldwin's wife Donna.

The foundation has held several star-studded galas, attended by celebrities and notables from around the world. It has become one of Las Vegas’ most important charity initiatives and a key participant in the nation fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Since its inception, the event has raised more than $20 million towards achieving its goal – the realization of the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer’s Institute.

Funds committed by such supporters as the Spector Family Foundation, the Roland and Terri Sturm Foundation, Steinberg Diagnostics, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and America Online will be utilized for the construction and operation of this incredible state-of-the-art facility.

On January 24, 2005, Nevada Governor Kenny C. Guinn and the State Legislature announced a $12 million pledge to the University of Nevada School of Medicine, a partner in the development of the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer’s Institute, to include annual support to the Alzheimer's facility and other related endeavors.

The ceremonial groundbreaking of the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute occurred on February 9, 2007. Dignitaries who attended the groundbreaking ceremonies for the $70 million brain institute project included LRBI founder Larry Ruvo, Frank Gehry, U.S. Senator Harry Reid and John Ensign; U.S. Representative Shelley Berkley, Jon Porter and Dean Heller, Gov. Jim Gibbons, Mayor Oscar Goodman, former Gov. Kenny Guinn, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Spacey, John Cusack.^[1][2]

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