The Rainwater Charitable Foundation

From our #RainwaterPrize to the #LaskerAward, the neuroscience community honored advancements in research and outstanding scientists in 2024. We reflect on this extraordinary work ahead of announcing the 2025 Rainwater Prize winners next month: https://lnkd.in/evmXTKYS 

This year’s Tau Global Conference will bring together leading experts to explore tau-related biology, biomarkers, therapeutics, and phenotypes, while embracing interdisciplinary collaboration to address challenges in tau research.    We’re grateful for the opportunity to host #Tau2025 alongside CurePSP and Alzheimer's Association®, and look forward to recognizing our 2025 #RainwaterPrize winners during the conference.    To explore all the event has to offer and to register, visit: https://lnkd.in/eUFdRbrN  

We are looking forward to hosting the second #TauopathyChallengeWorkshop with partners CurePSP, Aging Mind Foundation and Alzheimer's Association® in Miami later this month!    We are excited to bring researchers with diverse perspectives together to discuss and address key gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms of copathologies that are often present with primary tauopathies.    Learn more about the workshop and this year’s focus: https://lnkd.in/emNHdNDh

Linde Jacobs’ family has a long, difficult history with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). This New York Times story details her fight to identify what was behind her mother’s unsettling personality changes. That effort inspired her work to “put a face to the cells” for scientists studying the genetic mutation thought to be responsible for FTD, including a keynote address to our Tau Consortium in 2023. Read her story: https://lnkd.in/gtv43eQx

Since 2018, the #RainwaterPrize has enabled researchers to explore tauopathies and recognize scientific achievements that lead to new treatment options for patients. We look forward to announcing the 2025 Rainwater Prize winners in February! Explore the history of the prize: https://lnkd.in/eFkUmWnK 

Sign up to take the next State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey, going live in late January 2025! Nonprofit Finance Fund, in partnership with EVITARUS, will be conducting its 10th State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey to explore how nonprofits are faring in today's changing environment and the investments needed to secure their long-term futures. This collective dataset, one of the largest of its kind, is used to advocate for meaningful actions philanthropy, government partners, and other community leaders can take to support nonprofits now and in the future. Learn more and sign up here to add your voice once the survey is live in January. Sign up today! https://lnkd.in/g4m4Fmex

This fall, over 250 community members came together to explore the question, “Is Reading a Civil Right?” The event highlighted the urgent literacy challenges in our city. Nearly 60% of students in Fort Worth are not reading at grade level, with disparities affecting marginalized communities. Professor Kimberly Jenkins Robinson framed literacy as a key to unlocking opportunity and participation in society. RCF is proud to support local efforts to ensure all #FortWorth children can read at grade level and thrive. This collaborative approach to finding a solution was reflected in the large and diverse number of organizations that sponsored, attended, and participated in the event, including the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Education Partnership, Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce , Go Beyond Grades, The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION, Texas A&M University School of Law, and United Way of Tarrant County. Read our blog to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gkpHiyEt

We’re excited to highlight another previous #RainwaterPrize winner, Dr. David Holtzman, who was honored for his discoveries on how a protein involved in the metabolism of fats in the body plays a part in causing brain damage introduced by tau in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Explore Dr. Holtzman’s work in brain research and learn more about the Prize program: https://lnkd.in/eBech8Md 

Dr. Kathryn Bowles, one of the awardees of the 2023 Tauopathy Challenge Workshop, is working to understand how tau accumulation affects one of the main cell types in the brain known as astrocytes. Dr. Bowles research will investigate how astrocytes behave as tau accumulates and how aggregated tau in these cells contributes to neuronal dysfunction. Learn more about Dr. Bowles’ research here: https://lnkd.in/eaEtG4fZ

Centered around fostering collaboration, the #TauConsortium is our invitation-only research program that brings together emerging and established researchers to advance understanding of primary tauopathies. The Tau Consortium contributes to our mission of finding ways to accelerate the development of new treatment options for people living with neurodegenerative diseases.    Learn more about the Tau Consortium: https://lnkd.in/ebb9b5rf