Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation Kicks Off Celebration of 25th Anniversary Year with Sixth Annual Hope on the Horizon Palm Beach Dinner

Evening Honors Bonnie Lautenberg for Outstanding Support of ADDF Mission

On Wednesday, March 15 supporters gathered to attend the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s (ADDF) Sixth Annual Hope on the Horizon Palm Beach Dinner and celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary. The evening honored Bonnie Lautenberg as the recipient of the 2023 Hope on the Horizon Award for 15 years of leadership and outstanding support of the ADDF's mission.

The event raised more than $1.4 million, every dollar of which will go directly to support promising science, with an addition $1 million gift pledged by Ms. Lautenberg and her sisters, Lois Robbins and Carol Weisman. The ADDF is the only nonprofit solely focused on accelerating the development of drugs for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s.

Randal Sandler, Co-Vice Chair and Secretary of the ADDF’s Board of Governors, opened the evening with a message of hope at the progress the ADDF has propelled in the Alzheimer’s field. “From the beginning, the ADDF has been leading the charge, shaping the way the world understands and relates to Alzheimer’s. Now, it is within our grasp to transform this devastating disease into something treatable and preventable for our families and all those who come after us.”

The event’s Co-Chair, Judy Glickman Lauder, presented Ms. Lautenberg with the Hope on the Horizon Award. “The dedication Bonnie shows to her friends, her family, and her art is equaled only by the passion she gives to the causes she supports. It feels fitting to be honoring her during the ADDF’s 25th year as we look to the future. Alzheimer’s could soon be a treatable disease that will not cause any more families to suffer, and this is thanks to Bonnie’s efforts and the progress being made every day by the ADDF,” said Mrs. Lauder.

Accepting the award, Ms. Lautenberg said, “Thank you to everyone here for your support of this very worthy cause. I am standing here tonight because my mother, Jean Steinberg, had Alzheimer’s disease and I truly believe the ADDF is the organization that will put us on the best path to a cure so no one else will have to watch their parents or grandparents or spouses slip away.”

The event also featured an in-depth discussion on the latest advances in Alzheimer’s research based on the biology of aging with Dr. Howard Fillit, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at the ADDF, and Dr. Miranda Orr, Assistant Professor of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and winner of the ADDF’s 2022 Melvin R. Goodes Prize for Excellence in Alzheimer’s Drug Development.

The dinner was attended by local business, social and civic leaders, including Judy and Leonard Lauder, Jo Carole and Ronald Lauder, Vicki Kellogg, Eleanora Kennedy, Paulette Koch, Tom and Heidi McWilliams, Wilbur and Hilary Geary Ross, John Paulson, Robert and Susan Klein, Peter and Jamee Gregory, Cynthia Friedman, Nacho Figueras, Caryn Clayman, Howard and Judy Bernick, Bal Agrawal, Philip and Laurie Gross, Dede Harris, Randal and Liz Sandler, Janice Worth, to name a few.

Past recipients of the Hope on the Horizon Award include Aerin and Jane Lauder, Paula Zahn, Judy Glickman Lauder, Marcia Gay Harden, and Kim Campbell.

Event Co-Chairs: Nancy Goodes, Judy Glickman Lauder, Heidi McWilliams

Founding Chairs: Nancy Goodes, Jan Willinger

Honorary Chairs: Judy and Leonard A. Lauder, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder