(Edwardsville, IL) — A Metro East university has been given a huge financial boost to create a drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was awarded a two-point-65-million-dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant money will be spread out over a five year period and it will go to SIUE’s School of Pharmacy’s research team. More than five-point-three-million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, including one out of every three seniors.