What a milestone for the Sanders Brown Center on Aging in Lexington.

40 years as an Alzheimer's disease research center.

This week, the center's leaders gathered to talk about achievements of the past and expectations for the future.

Our research at Sanders Brown is truly world renowned right here in Lexington, Kentucky.

We're at the forefront of groundbreaking discoveries and clinical advancements that are shaping the future of Alzheimer's and dementia care.

When I attend scientific meetings, whether it's in the U.S.

or international, it's our work here at Sanders Brown that's noticed and sparks conversations.

And that achievement is not lost on the almost 81,000 Kentucky residents currently experiencing the disease, or the 157,000 caregivers who mostly of whom are unpaid.

Every year.

There are almost 2900 Kentucky residents in hospice with dementia, and over 1600 will die with Alzheimer's.

Annual Medicaid costs exceed 800 million annually, and those costs are expected to grow by more than 18% over the next five years.

Those numbers are truly astonishing.

And yet statistics and money don't really demonstrate what the disease does to individuals, their families and the friends around them.

So we're actually one of the most active centers in the country conducting clinical trials in dementia.

Our scientists are identifying new diseases that look like Alzheimer's but are not Alzheimer's.

They're pioneering the next generation of therapies, and they're leading studies that May 1st day prevent memory loss before it begins.

And we're able to do that, as you heard, because of the continued support from the National Institute on Aging, their investment and our Alzheimer's Center allowed us to build a 40 year record of discovery and innovation.

And this is a legacy that only nine centers in the nation can match us.

So continued NIH funding is going to ensure that we keep pushing boundaries, mentoring the next generation of scientists, and bringing hope to people in Kentucky and throughout the world.

So as we look to the next 40 years, our mission remains the same to advance science that improves lives, helping people maintain their memories, their independence, and their dignity as they age.

But we know, too, that now more than ever, this effort will require the work of policymakers and partners.

Research scientists like Linda van, Linda van Dyk, teachers and scholars, communities and nonprofits, all of them working together with a shared vision and common goal a better Kentucky, a stronger Kentucky, a healthier Kentucky.

Hopefully, as we go into another budget session, I commit to you today.

This will remain a priority for me.

And I will do all I can to ensure that UK and Sanders Browns has the resources they need from the Commonwealth to accomplish your mission.

Funding for the UK Sanders Brown Center began in 1972 with money from John Y. Brown, who would later become governor, and Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Harland Sanders.

The center opened in 1979 and earned its Alzheimer's Disease Research Center designation in 1985.