Personal and professional reasons connect me to the cause of the Alzheimer’s Disease and to why I am running the London Marathon for the Alzheimer’s Society. Personally, I want to fundraise for the Alzheimer’s Society for my mother, Diane  "Dinny" Miller Asche, who was diagnosed with and passed away from dementia in August 2021. My mother lived a full, long life, having five kids, 12 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren. She grew up in the Great Depression and came of age during World War II. She became a ballerina, studying with George Balanchine and Martha Graham, before dancing with the precursor to the American Ballet Theatre and other companies. She exhibited resilience in the face of life’s adversities, including the death of two husbands. This resilience was on display in my mother’s later years as she accepted each subsequent stage gracefully, even appearing on the cover of a leading academic journal, The Gerontologist. However, the social isolation stemming from visitor restrictions put into place at her assisted living facility due to the pandemic proved extremely difficult for her, exacerbating her dementia, severely compromising her quality of life, and contributing to her subsequent decline. It was heart breaking to witness my mother’s decline, seemingly in real time, as she became increasingly uncommunicative and distressed. Face Time visits at the height of the pandemic and 20-minute visits once weekly thereafter by a family member just didn’t cut it, but that it is all that was allowed. This personal connection to the cause of the Alzheimer’s Society intersects with what I do professionally. I am Professor and Chair of the Department of Gerontology and Fellow in the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. I am also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Aging & Social Policy, and an Adjunct Professor of the Department of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at Brown University. For more than 30 years, the focus of my scholarship has been long-term services and supports, including better supporting older adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia and their families. My research suggests that simple assessment instruments can be combined with other known correlates to help predict health services use and costs among people with Alzheimer’s Disease, thereby helping to inform resource allocation decisions associated with the treatment and support of individuals diagnosed with this disease. It also suggests that caregiver support interventions should be offered to individuals caring for people with less advanced cases of Alzheimer’s Disease. Otherwise, seemingly manageable and healthy individuals may be at increased risk for adverse outcomes when caregivers experience high levels of burden. The urgency in applying lessons like these became even more evident during the pandemic which exacerbated already high levels of social isolation among older adults, as with my mother. The bottom line is that we can do better. We must do better, learning from the pandemic experience to improve the lives of people like my mother and the families who love them. The Alzheimer’s Society is at the vanguard of trying to make this happen.  It is extremely meaningful to me to honor my mother by fundraising in her name to do my small part in helping the Alzheimer’s Society to ensure that it has the resources to do so. Thank you so much for generosity.