It is the disease of forgetting—and was for a long time a forgotten disease. Dementia, the seemingly inevitable loss of memory and personality associated with growing older, has been globally neglected by science and politics. However, in Germany a new initiative was started in 2007 when Science Minister Annette Schavan announced: "We are taking on today's great socio-political challenge of the increasing life expectancy and the demographic development of the population."
The growing challenge of dementia was taken on when the German federal government announced that a new national center on dementia research was to be established and scientists were asked to send in their proposals. In March 2008, Minister Schavan announced that the German Helmholtz Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) will be located in Bonn, after winning a fierce competition against renowned scientific contenders in Munich, Berlin, and Heidelberg. The center will be a key part ...
