A prominent Nova Scotia family is donating millions of dollars to Dalhousie University to establish a new research chair focused on Alzheimer’s disease.

The Sobeys Foundation has given $2 million to the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation to create the DMRF Irene MacDonald Sobey Endowed Chair in Curative Approaches to Alzheimer’s Disease.

The chair will be held by Dr. Donald Weaver, an internationally-acclaimed neurologist and pioneer in computer-aided drug development.

He tells Global News the new position ensures stable annual funding that will help him close in on a cure.

“This is a great way to start the summer,” he said. “We are committed to trying to come up with a curative drug for Alzheimer’s disease. It’s a long, difficult process that requires a lot of support, and getting the support of the Sobey’s chair is an immense and crucial part of this.”

The Sobey’s Foundation has now donated $5 million to Dalhousie’s “Bold Ambitions” campaign.

The chair is named in honour of Irene MacDonald Sobey, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

“Mother was a victim of Alzheimer’s,” David Sobey told a news conference during Thursday’s announcement. “It happened slowly. At first we didn’t notice it, but happen it did.”

Weaver’s group is using state-of-the-art computer-aided modelling to devise drugs that will disable the protein that has been implicated in the cause of Alzheimer’s disease.