Mollie, who is a retired occupational therapist with extensive experience in rehabilitation management and program development, has led workshops and seminars on topics like Alzheimer’s disease for decades. She has been an influential collaborator with several IU School of Medicine subject-matter experts, effectively communicating to researchers the value of under-represented Hoosier involvement in medical research. Meanwhile, Ralph has been an instrumental leader with the center and participates in events like the IADRC’s annual Memory University, a free and accessible program held each week in June. He also received the Golden Hoosier Award which honors senior Hoosiers for years of continued service to their communities. “It’s involvement like the Richardses’ that has helped the Center thrive for so many years,” said Andrew Saykin, PsyD, director of the IADRC.
Through these years of service, the pair
has advocated for better representation in Alzheimer’s disease research, particularly among the Black community where the devastating disease is much more prevalent. Not only are Black people more at-risk for the disease but— as Alzheimer’s continues to spread for the next 30 years— the number of African Americans expected to develop the disease will more than double to 6.9 million people. With these alarming statistics, the Richardses have spent years educating Black Hoosiers about healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease, particularly among Indianapolis communities. In their work with the IADRC’s Community Advisory Board, the Richardses create a bridge between science and the community it impacts by working to increase participation among people of color in screening and assessments through education, outreach and research study participation. “The IADRC is proud of how the Richardses promote our mission of health equity for early detection, treatment in Alzheimer’s disease and diversity in research participation,” said Sophia Wang, MD, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and current leader of the Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core at the IADRC.
Recently the Richardses received the 2021 Indiana Business Journal Health Care Heroes Award for their incredible efforts as volunteers who have educated underserved minority communities for decades about the importance of early detection and the need for research to discover a cure for this tragic disease. Remarkable work and recognition like this are powerful reminders of the influence that the Hoosier community can have on Alzheimer’s disease research. The decades of work and involvement of the Richardses shows how science and innovation isn’t something that belongs in the hands of the few but in the lives of the many.
