The History of the Roskamp Institute
The Roskamp Institute, the world renowned research laboratory located in Sarasota,
has made important discoveries with profound clinical implications for the millions of
Americans with neurologic disorders.
The Roskamp Institute established its research facilities and team of scientists in
Sarasota in 2003. At that time the Sarasota-based Roskamp Foundation provided the
administrative and organizational structure for the innovative Institute. Now, after
only seven years the Institute has become firmly established as a leading body in the
international research community with its programs and projects supported by the National
Institute of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration and the
European Commission Seventh Framework Programme and several other national and international
peer reviewed agencies.
In 2010, the Foundation’s governing board determined that the growth of the Roskamp Institute
could be accommodated by a change in status from a private operating foundation to a public
charity with full tax deductible status under the IRS not-for-profit (501[c]3) designation.
This autonomy will allow the Institute to continue to build its research program and secure a
broader range of grants and charitable gifts to support the development of new drugs and
therapies to treat neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease, head trauma, Gulf
War Illness, Autism, drug addiction and Tourette's Syndrome.
With this change in structure, the Roskamp Foundation’s two principals – Bob and Diane Roskamp –
have made an important gift to the world health community, providing substantial resources to
aid the discovery in new drugs and treatments for debilitating diseases of the brain. As part
of this gift, all the Foundation’s assets previously supporting the institute – including
intellectual and real property – were given to this new, independent, public charity - the
Roskamp Institute, Inc.
'Through the years, Diane and I have been privileged to participate in many wonderful opportunities
to make the world a better place. Our passion lies most directly with using our time and resources
to find a cure for diseases of the mind. We believe that through the continued and expanded work of
the Roskamp Institute, Alzheimer’s Disease and many other debilitating disorders of the brain will
soon be understood and cured.' - Bob Roskamp
The Roskamp Institute of Sarasota, Florida was established with the goal of becoming
a primary international site for leading-edge research on neurological disorders such
as Alzheimer’s Disease. Today, the Roskamp Institute is recognized as a leader in the
global effort to better understand and ultimately cure debilitating diseases of the
mind.
The groundwork for the Institute’s research programs took place more than two decades ago
when Roskamp’s two lead researchers – Dr. Michael Mullan, the Institute’s director and
Dr. Fiona Crawford, its associate director – were part of a pioneering team of British
scientists at London University. This group discovered that the onset of Alzheimer’s
Disease was directly related to the accumulation in the brain of a protein called
beta-amyloid. While this protein is produced by every human, the groundbreaking research
work of this team discovered that excessive beta-amyloid in the brain will result in the
development of Alzheimer’s Disease.
In the course of their research, the Institute’s scientists discovered that inflammation in the
brain is directly associated with many other neurodegenerative disorders. The research team has also
made progress in the development of medications and therapeutic treatments that will reduce or slow
the toxic accumulation of beta-amyloid and the associated inflammation.
In June 2011 it was announced that an international research consortium led by Trinity College Dublin,
Ireland and the Roskamp Institute has been selected for funding by the European Commission Seventh
Framework Programme for a large-scale European clinical trial on Nilvadipine, an Alzheimer’s
Disease drug developed at the Roskamp Institute. This grant of $8.4 million will allow more than
500 Alzheimer’s patients across Europe to participate in the multicenter Phase III clinical trial
designed to study the effectiveness of the drug on humans. This is but one aspect of the institute’s
work that battles with the debilitating and deadly diseases that afflict so many Americans and others
worldwide.
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