Members of the family behind Medline — a massive medical supply and equipment company based in Northfield — have donated $25 million to establish a new center that will focus on Alzheimer’s disease research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Jim and Wendy Abrams and their Eleven Eleven Foundation donated the money, which will endow the The Abrams Research Center on Neurogenomics at Northwestern. The center will focus on using artificial intelligence to help develop interventions for Alzheimer’s.
New artificial intelligence tools and analysis methods will be created through the center, to help neuroscientists study the genes and different types of cells affected by Alzheimer’s disease, with the goal of improving care and treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s.
“Alzheimer’s disease is one of the greatest challenges facing the medical community right now,” said David Gate, who is director of the new center and an assistant professor of neurology in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology. “I’m optimistic we’re going to move the needle in a positive direction toward identifying new therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease.”
He said artificial intelligence tools will allow researchers to better analyze large quantities of data related to the disease. The new center now has a staff of about 15 and occupies a space of about 2,000 square feet at Feinberg, Gate said.
The Abrams said in a news release they’re optimistic that Northwestern researchers “will bring us closer to finding a cure in the near future.”
Jim Abrams was most recently chief operating officer of Medline, before it was announced last year that he would retire from the role but remain a vice chairman of the company’s board. Wendy is part of the Mills family, which founded the company in 1966. The company now has 39,000 workers worldwide, and was named No. 14 on Forbes’ 2023 list of the largest private companies in the U.S.
The family agreed to sell a majority stake in the company to funds managed by private equity firms in 2021 to generate cash for family members and strengthen the company, company leaders said at the time.
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