Members of the family behind Medline — a massive medical supply and equipment company based in Northfield — have donated $25 million to endow 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 University Feinberg School of Medicine. The center will focus on using artificial intelligence to help develop interventions for Alzheimer’s disease.
New artificial intelligence tools and analysis methods will be created through the center, to help neuroscientists study the genes and cell types affected by Alzheimer’s disease, with the goal of improving care and treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
“This gift has the potential to be transformational in the way we care for and treat patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Howard Chrisman, president and chief executive officer of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, in a news release.
The Abrams said in the 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.