These families help researchers find Alzheimer's treatments. Their network is at risk

June Ward (right) — pictured with her sisters Susie Gilliam (center) and Karen Douthitt (left) — carries a rare gene mutation that virtually guarantees she will get Alzheimer's in the next few years. She is part of a network of more than 200 families with these kinds of gene mutations who have volunteered as research subjects over the past two decades. Juan Diego Reyes for NPR hide caption toggle caption Juan Diego Reyes for NPR Some of the most important studies of potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease rely on a group of participants who know they may never fully reap the benefits. "It's not for us," says June Ward, 64, who carries a rare gene mutation that virtually guarantees she will get Alzheimer's in the next few years. "It's for my sister's children and their children, so that they won't have the same 'nothing' to choose from." Ward is a member of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN), a group of more than 200 families in 18 countries who carry gene mutations that cause symptoms to appear in middle age, or even earlier. The families' willingness to serve as research subjects over the past two decades has allowed scientists to make key discoveries about how Alzheimer's begins, and how certain drugs may slow its progress. Yet DIAN, run by WashU Medicine in St. Louis, faces an uncertain future amid cuts and delays in federal funding. …