BANGOR – Northern Light Acadia Hospital has received a substantial gift in support of its Acadia For All Campaign. Camilla Cochrane, best friend and partner of Robert (Bob) Strauss has committed $500,000 to support the name the Robert C. Strauss Neurocognitive Research Program in memory of her late husband.
Bob was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a rare neurodegenerative disease, and succumbed to the disease in 2018. Upon diagnosis, Bob and Camilla turned to Acadia Hospital’s Clifford Singer, MD and the team at Acadia’s Mood & Memory Clinic to access treatment and a clinical trial to slow the course of the disease.
“From the minute I walked in there, I had hope for the first time. I’m honored to be able to take the worst thing that ever happened in our lives and make it into something positive for others,” says Camilla. “Bob would be so proud to know his name is associated with such an important resource for the community.”
The largest of its type in Maine, the Robert C. Strauss Neurocognitive Research Program strives to find new treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease as its primary mission, but its focus has expanded to include other disorders affecting cognition and behavior. The research program collaborates with the Clinical Research Center at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center and has key research partnerships with experts in aging and dementia at Massachusetts General Hospital, The Jackson Laboratory, and the University of Maine.
“We are incredibly grateful for this generous gift. We’re humbled to have played a role in providing Camilla comfort through an extremely difficult diagnosis. We are even more humbled that she has decided to contribute to this critical campaign in such a substantial way. With the rapidly increasing number of seniors in Maine, the future needs of our state for specialty services that we provide will not be met unless we expand our program. This gift puts us closer to that goal,” says Scott Oxley, president of Acadia Hospital.
To learn more about Acadia Hospital’s Center for Geriatric Cognitive and Mental Health and the Acadia for All campaign, take a moment to watch this brief video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AorZJiLtjSQ.
To find out more about making a philanthropic commitment to the Acadia For All campaign, call Nichole Trainer at 207-973-6113 or visit northernlight.org/AcadiaForAll.
