MAY 2007

FEATURE STORY

Over the next two decades, Las Vegas may just become the world’s best place to grow old. Nevada-based nonprofit Keep Memory Alive, led by Larry Ruvo, is building the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute (LRBI), the planet’s most comprehensive research and treatment facility for Alzheimer’s and other brain aging diseases.

LRBI’s CEO Dr. Zaven Khachaturian is considered one of the godfathers of Alzheimer’s research. He says that the human brain has the capacity to live 120 years or longer with full mental vitality. “The trick,” he says, “is to delay or prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and ALS [Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis].”

The Institute will be part of the 61-acre Union Square development, and is being designed by Frank Gehry, named by Time Magazine as the world’s greatest living architect. Frank’s past projects include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles; the Dancing House “Fred and Ginger” in Prague, Czech Republic; and the Experience Music Project in Seattle.

Founder Larry Ruvo says that LRBI will have a “tremendous impact” on Las Vegas Real Estate. “Not only will the Institute bring top-quality physicians and researchers to work with Dr. Khachaturian, but it will also bring first-time visitors who seek treatment or who just want to see Frank Gehry’s building.” Larry believes that the increased economic activity will “raise property values, help city pride, and put Las Vegas on the map as a mature metropolitan area. You can’t do that without a world-class medical community.”

Frank Gehry was initially hesitant to help with the project. Larry explains, “I believed the center needed a marketing tool to attract the best physicians. That’s when I thought of Frank Gehry. The mayor [Oscar Goodman] and I met with Frank. His opening line was ‘I’m not building a building in Las Vegas. I’ve already turned down other offers. I’m not interested.’”

However, after a two-hour conversation Larry and Frank found common ground. “It turns out,” says Larry, “Frank has a history of supporting Huntington’s [research]. Once Frank understood how our project will help people with Huntington’s, he signed on.”

The main building, the 61,000-square-foot Gehry-Ruvo Building, will incorporate Frank Gehry's signature contorted steel. The office section resembles a series of stacked plaster and glass blocks. In addition to the 39,000 square feet allotted to clinical care, space will also be apportioned for an activities center, a restaurant, and an interactive learning space called the Museum of the Mind. Groundbreaking took place on February 9, 2007, and completion is expected in late 2008.

Larry named the Institute after his father, Lou Ruvo, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and died in 1994. Larry cites his father as his closest friend. “My father taught me that you always have to give back to your community and help others.”

Lou Ruvo trained at the Las Vegas Army Air Field, now Nellis Air Force Base. After his army training, Lou and his family stayed in Las Vegas and watched the city grow. Lou, along with Larry’s mother Angie, opened the popular Venetian pizzeria, first on Fremont Street and later on Sahara. Larry says that his father “felt like he had to help newcomers get a stake in the city. We were a pioneer family in Las Vegas, and we wanted to help other families settle here.”

In 1969 Larry began working for Wynn Distribution and quickly rose to management level. When the company was sold to Southern Wine & Spirits, Larry became the Senior Managing Director. As a wine executive, Larry followed his father’s example by providing jobs to the community. He also contributed enormous sums to charity, and his endeavors have culminated in the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute.

LRBI’s mission is to conquer Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS, and other chronic brain disorders. Such a conquest includes developing new techniques to prevent, to detect, to treat, and eventually to cure dementia. The result will be to enhance the quality of life for older Nevadans.

Larry says that Nevadans will soon have improved access to Alzheimer’s specialists. “Sadly, it’s now a three- to four-month wait to see an Alzheimer’s specialist in Las Vegas,” he says. “We’re going to change that.”

In addition to clinical services, LRBI will also provide research, education, and public policy “think tank” facilities.

Larry admits to being awed by the scope of the project. He says, “What started as a treatment facility has grown beyond imagination” thanks to a partnership between the private and public sectors. “The governor mentioned us in two State of the State addresses and the legislature is helping us move forward. When the world’s leading expert on Alzheimer’s [Zaven Khachaturian] moved from Washington to Nevada, it was a huge stamp of approval.”

Dr. Khachaturian says that improving the prevention, delay, and treatment of Alzheimer’s will improve the vitality of millions of Americans. He says that nearly five million people nationwide are afflicted with some form of dementia. He warns that the disease will become even more prevalent as the baby boomers age. “If current trends continue, the number of people at risk will double in 20 years.”

The disease affects not only patients, but also 10 million family care providers. Dr. Khachaturian says that the nationwide financial burden of caring for patients with dementia is “conservatively estimated to exceed $100 billion per year.” He hopes to ease that burden by detecting and treating dementia before the symptoms become apparent. His goal is to “delay the onset of disability until one hour before death” by discovering concrete warning signs of Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases.

In order to delay the onset of symptoms, society’s understanding of dementia must change. Most people currently think of Alzheimer’s as a set of symptoms. Dr. Khachaturian says that the disease is really biological. He explains “The disease begins when [brain cells] become less efficient in communicating with each other. This can happen when a patient is in his 20s or 30s.” Although the disease begins early in life, the symptoms only appear later. “If we can understand the biology of the disease instead of just treating the symptoms, then we can delay the onset.”

Currently, the primary known risk factors are age and family history. Dr. Khachaturian plans to expand the list by recruiting thousands of baby boomers for annual checkups for a period of 10-15 years. By recruiting such a large sample for a long period of time, the research team will develop a profile of Alzheimer’s patients in the years leading up to disability. “We want to determine what environmental, lifestyle and genetic markers can be used as predictors.”

Eventually, Dr. Khachaturian hopes to develop techniques of predicting Alzheimer’s in the same way that mammography predicts breast cancer and blood tests predict prostate cancer. He wants to take care “not only of patients, but also of people at risk.”

Ultimately, he wants to “find the mechanism by which nerve cells regenerate. Then we can help the brain repair itself.” The result will be “to keep people functioning normally for as long as possible.”

Dr. Khachaturian says that the life expectancy for baby boomers is between 95 and 100, which includes 35 years of expected disability. “The good news,” he says, “is that if you can delay the onset of dementia symptoms by five years, then you can cut the number of dementia cases in half,” which would dramatically reduce the burden to society.

According to Dr. Khachaturian, individuals who keep their bodies and minds active are less likely to experience symptoms of dementia. “Exercise your body,” he says. “Also, engage in creative activities, learn a new language, and learn new skills.” He adds that people with challenging occupations tend to get the disease much later than others. Dr. Khachaturian’s expertise on Alzheimer’s is unquestionable. His unified theory on brain aging is the basis for Alzheimer’s treatment worldwide. Once his theory was in place and tested, he worked closely with the federal government to shape public health policy and to ensure continued funding for brain aging research. He coordinated all the Alzheimer’s research programs at the National Institute of Health.

Dr. Khachaturian’s résumé is expansive. In addition to being the senior science advisor to the Alzheimer’s Association, he is also the editor in chief of Alzheimer’s Dementia: Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, and an adjunct professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is a former director of the Alzheimer’s Association Reagan Research Institute, as well as a former director of the Office of Alzheimer’s Disease Research at the National Institute on Aging.

Dr. Khachaturian says that he is “thrilled to be working with the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute.” Thanks to the generosity and dedication of Larry Ruvo and a tremendous Board of Directors (listed below) who are dedicated to finding a cure for these diseases, the Institute will not only bring the world’s top experts on brain aging to Las Vegas, but will also occupy a Frank Gehry landmark building. Most importantly, the Institute will create techniques to help people live with full vitality to age 100 and beyond.

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