VCU news

By Erin Lucero
Office of Development, School of Medicine

The 55-member Rams for Memory team assembled by second-year medical student David Goldberg was the largest to participate in Saturday’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Richmond.

The team also was one of the top 10 fundraising teams for the Oct. 5 walk. Raising $4,475, Rams for Memory placed ninth out of 215 teams, nearly doubling their initial goal.  

“I’ve been involved with Alzheimer’s advocacy since August 2010, when my maternal grandfather (Ervin Alperin) passed away from complications of Alzheimer’s disease,” Goldberg said.

“It was the start of my fourth year of college at UVA, and my friends and I started an Alzheimer’s awareness fundraising and volunteering organization called Hoos for Memory.”

Even after he graduated, Goldberg continued to help out, and the club continues to field teams for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s and to hold other fundraisers, now under the leadership of Goldberg’s sister, Lauren.

Now a student in the VCU School of Medicine’s class of 2016, Goldberg participated in Greater Richmond’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s for the first time last year, leading fellow medical students and faculty in the effort. He expanded the team’s membership this year with public health students, nurses and undergraduates from the Monroe Park Campus, including players from the VCU women’s basketball team.

Goldberg’s connections to VCU include two generations of his family tree. His father, Martin, is a graduate of the medical school’s class of 1978 and stayed on the MCV Campus for his internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship. In addition, Alperin attended Richmond Professional Institute, earning a degree in distributive education in 1953.

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds to fight Alzheimer’s disease. Registration for the walk is free, and money is raised when walkers ask their friends and family for donations. All funds raised from the Greater Richmond walk will benefit the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

The medical school’s Linda Costanzo, Ph.D., professor of physiology, also helped raise awareness and funds for Rams for Memory.

"My mom passed away recently from complications of Alzheimer's,” Costanzo said. “As her care partner, I would have been lost without the resources provided by the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Richmond – support groups, help lines, and informational programs."

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