Imagine if a child born today learned about Alzheimer’s in a history book rather than in a health class. Or if that child never had to watch a loved one suffer from this terrible disease. These are not far-fetched notions. Americans have consistently defied extraordinary odds to achieve the seemingly impossible. Finding a cure for Alzheimer’s should be no different.

Alzheimer’s was discovered more than a century ago, and we have yet to slow or prevent this incredibly complex and confounding disease. But we owe it to the more than five million Americans living with Alzheimer’s to keep trying. We owe it to the families who are suffering alongside their loved ones. We owe it to the future generations who should never have to bear the burden of Alzheimer’s or lose the memories it steals.