Her life was nothing short of a miracle. 



Born into an extended family of 6,000, all of whom share a rare genetic mutation that inescapably leads to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by the age of 45, Aliria Rosa Piedrahita de Villegas of Antioquía, Colombia, was the sole escapee of that fate. While much younger relatives began to deteriorate mentally and physically, she lived a normal life. 



The phenomenon of Piedrahita de Villegas, who died recently at the age of 77, stunned the international team of neuroscientists who had been studying her family for decades.



CONTACT:

Sonia Fernandez

(805) 893-4765

sonia.fernandez@ucsb.edu

Shelly Leachman

(805) 893-8726

shelly.leachman@ucsb.edu