For more than 25 years, the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute (WAI) has worked to further mission of advancing health equity and improving the quality of life of people living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia and their families. Through research initiatives, statewide memory clinic development, education and public health programs, we identify and provide strategies to reduce dementia risk and offer access to effective care. In 2008, the WAI Regional Milwaukee Office was established in Milwaukee, WI with the goals of empowering the local community, improving access to quality care, and increasing African-American research participation by building culturally-tailored programs. WAI is academic home to the NIH-funded Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP), one of the longest-running and largest family history studies of Alzheimer's disease in the world. WAI research projects include a focus on providing clinical care and education to dementia care providers and addressing the needs of communities of color who are traditionally under-represented in research and under-served in health care, including African Americans and Latinos living with dementia and their caregivers. WAI scientists and program leaders coordinate research-based education and events for community members in Wisconsin; through programs like state-wide dementia care specialist training, Dementia Capable Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Dementia Resource Network, and the WAI Affiliated Dementia Diagnostic Clinic Network. Each November, WAI shares updates in research and clinical care news for health care professionals at the Annual Update in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias.
