“We’re overwhelmed by the generosity of the Byers Foundation,” said Kevin Eltife, chairman of the Board of Regents. “This donation means so much to the University of Texas and the mission of what we can do to help address Alzheimer’s issues in this part of the state.” (Jennifer Scott/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

The University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler) received a $2 million donation from the Byers Family Foundation to help establish a center dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias.

“We’re overwhelmed by the generosity of the Byers Foundation,” said Kevin Eltife, chairman of the Board of Regents. “This donation means so much to the University of Texas and the mission of what we can do to help address Alzheimer’s issues in this part of the state.”

The Byers Family Foundation, established in 2023, focuses on providing philanthropic resources to the community, with a particular emphasis on healthcare and education.

“Our main focal point is access to health care and access to education organizations that provide access to healthcare and education,” Byers Executive Director Patrick Willis said.

The trustees of the foundation have a deeply personal connection to the cause, with several family members, including Byers’ father and Willis’ grandmother and great aunt, having suffered from dementia. This connection has made the project a passionate endeavor for them, and they are excited to support dementia care services through UT Tyler for the community.

“I hope that it will impact generations of East Texans, providing not only resources for research but also treatment options at the facility itself,” Willis said. “We want to ensure that our residents don’t have to travel to Dallas or Houston, some of the only places in the state where these resources are available. The goal is to eliminate the travel burden for families and allow them to access these services right here in our own community.”

The donation was presented Thursday evening at the Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler. The creation of this center responds to an urgent need for health services throughout East Texas, as highlighted by the 2021 Northeast Texas Health Status Report and a UT Health East Texas report.

“We are thrilled to have a new School of Medicine faculty with expertise in cognitive-behavioral neurology starting in July,” said UT Tyler President Julie V. Philley, MD, in a press release. “Building a multidisciplinary team of providers specializing in dementia is our immediate priority so that we can expand dementia services for the community.”

The discussions surrounding the center began several months ago when Dr. Philley and her team at UT Tyler approached a group of community members to serve on an advisory board for the proposed center. After meeting with Dr. Philley, Dr. Shilpa Chitnis, and Dr. George Plotkin, foundation president Brent Byers and the foundation team reviewed the clinic’s budget.

“After seeing it, we decided to make a contribution to help get the clinic started and provide part of its budget for the first several years of operation,” Byers said. “So, we’ve committed $2 million to the University of Texas at Tyler for the foundation of that plan.”

The issue of dementia and Alzheimer’s is especially pressing in East Texas. According to the Texas Department of Human and Health Services, Texas ranks third in the nation for Alzheimer’s cases and second for Alzheimer’s deaths.

“Over 11% of our fellow Northeast Texans end up with Alzheimer’s,” Eltife said. “It is a huge issue, and this donation and the new foundation the institution is setting up will go a long way to help all of our fellow Texans who are affected by this dreaded disease.”

The Byers Family Foundation’s donation will fund the creation of an institution dedicated to addressing Alzheimer’s and dementia, including the recruitment of specialists in cognitive issues. East Texas currently lacks a neurologist specializing in cognitive-behavioral neurology, which is crucial for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

“We have incredible neurologists in this part of the state,” Eltife said. “However, we would like to be able to attract a couple of specialists who focus specifically on this type of disease.”

Byers shared how personal this project is for him, citing his father’s experience with dementia. For years, his father suffered from a range of symptoms that were never connected until he was hospitalized in Houston for an unrelated issue. A neurologist referred him to a Baylor College of Medicine specialist, where he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia — a condition where dementia appears first, followed by movement disorders. It was only at the clinic in Houston that the right team identified his condition after years of misdiagnosis.

“The center UT Tyler is proposing to establish would function much like the clinic in Houston,” Byers said. “The goal is to create a local facility where people don’t have to travel far to receive the specialized care they need.”

The American Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 6 million people over the age of 65 in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer’s and other dementias, with the annual cost of care reaching $360 billion, roughly $60,000 per person. This staggering cost also impacts East Texas, where the burden of Alzheimer’s care is significant.

“In East Texas, covering 35 counties, approximately 20,000 people suffer from dementia,” Byers said. “And the economic burden is large… so, we need this kind of center in East Texas to meet that need and relieve people of the economic burden.”