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Facing the elevator in the American Health Association Foundation building in Clarksburg are models of the first artificial heart.

When the foundation set out in 1973 to fund research into diseases related to aging, one of its early grants led to the development of that heart.

About eight years ago, the foundation decided to stop funding heart disease research, but it continues to fund age-related research projects in their early stages.

"We decided the American Heart Association was doing a great job in [heart disease], so we created a partnership with them for awarding any money we had in that direction," President and CEO Stacy Haller said.

Today the foundation concentrates on three areas: Alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration and glaucoma. It funds early research in these areas and offers information for the general public via its website, a phone line and public service announcements.

"Our aim is to educate people about the risk factors, the latest research, treatment options, risk reduction through healthy lifestyle and ways to cope with the effects of these diseases," Haller said.

Often the work it funds crosses disciplines, said Guy S. Eakin, vice president of scientific affairs for the foundation. The two eye diseases are most associated with loss of vision in seniors and loss of vision is associated with increased risk of dementia.

"We're about to experience the silver tsunami — people who are aging and the accumulation of problems that happen as these people develop age-related diseases," Eakin said.

The foundation funded research by Dr. Lee Goldstein of Boston University on detecting Alzheimer's disease with a laser eye test before symptoms develop.

"By the time you see clinical evidence of the disease, the horse is out of the barn, not just out of the barn, out of the state," Goldstein said in a phone interview. "By the time symptoms emerge, the brain is already severely damaged and there's no repairing it."

Hundreds of drugs are in clinical trials for combating the effects of Alzheimer's, he said. If the disease can be detected before it begins to destroy the brain, these drugs will be available to ward off its effects and patients will be able to lead a normal life, he said.

"We don't need to cure it, just slow it down," Goldstein said. "We can effectively cure it by diagnosing it early."

He hopes early screening via the eye test will become a routine part of physical exams for people in their 30s or 40s.

Goldstein presented his research at the International Conference on Alzheimer's earlier this month in Hawaii.

"The foundation was central to [the research]," Goldstein said.

Alzheimer's disease involves the accumulation of a protein called beta amyloid in the brain. Several years ago Goldstein and a team of researchers found Alzheimer's in the lens of the eye and published their findings.

"It told us something about the disease; it was not just a brain disease but systemic," he said.

Other scientists did not believe Goldstein's data, he said. Without $300,000 from the foundation, he would not have been able to develop the work.

Foundations such as the American Health Assistance Foundation allow young investigators to take risks and advance their work, he said.

"With that money we developed the first pioneering instrumentation to pick this up very early in the eyes," Goldstein said. "AHAF gave us the start. We're eternally grateful."

Eakin leads teams of scientists that evaluate funding requests. The foundation likes to spend its money on projects in their early stages. Once the work is further along, researchers can apply for additional funding from the National Institutes of Health or other organizations, Haller said.

"We take a look at whether the research could be funded elsewhere without our contribution," Eakin said. "We have less than 1 percent of the funding available for Alzheimer's research but 6 percent of the milestone publications."

The foundation has awarded more than $110 million to researchers since 1973. Its early money came from private family grants, Haller said. Now it also receives money from a handful of donors and is looking for corporate donations, she said.

The foundation now is funding 62 Alzheimer's projects, 29 glaucoma projects and 34 macular degeneration projects, Haller said. In 2010 the foundation awarded $5 million for Alzheimer's research and $8 million for glaucoma and macular degeneration work, Eakin said.

The foundation has a full-time staff of 40. In 2008, the most recent year for which income tax data are available, it took in nearly $20 million in contributions and grants and lost $1.7 million in investments. It spends 75 percent of its money on programs, 17 percent on fundraising and 8 percent on management, Haller said.

Haller describes the foundation as small and lean. "This year we awarded all grants presented to us by our three review panels because we knew this was a year increased funding was needed," she said.

For answers to questions, support and referrals related to Alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration or glaucoma, call the American Health Assistance Foundation at 800-437-AHAF (2423), 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Answers to frequently asked questions may be found at www.ahaf.org, where can experts provide answers to specific questions.

The American Health Assistance makes information about research it funds available to the general public through BioMed Central's open access journal, Molecular Neurodegeneration.