Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1504 amends the Education Code to require the Texas Council on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders to establish and fund a consortium of Alzheimer's disease centers, initially comprising those centers at the Baylor College of Medicine, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The act requires the consortium to (1) coordinate and direct programs to provide centralized uniform services among consortium participants; (2) offer clinical services to those centers' patients; (3) establish a database and a data coordinating center to serve participants, state agencies, and researchers; and (4) develop and distribute educational materials and services to patients, caregivers, and health care professionals, including information about research projects and clinical trials in which patients may participate. The act also requires the council to establish an advisory steering committee, which also is charged with review and evaluation of data dissemination activities, and to conduct a performance review of each participant at least every five years.