The MIND Center pairs with Santé South for 2022 festival

Published on Monday, December 6, 2021

By: Karen Bascom

The Santé South Wine Festival will return in 2022 with a new beneficiary: The MIND Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

The event, to be held Saturday, May 7, 2022 at 7:30 p.m., will again be a part of the Ridgeland Fine Arts Festival at Renaissance at Colony Park.

General admission passes for Santé South, presented by Trustmark and produced by Ardenland, will go on sale on Friday, December 10. Tickets will cost $150 and be available at www.santesouth.org.

Now in its 17^th year, Santé South is Mississippi’s largest wine and food event. The festival offers wine enthusiasts the opportunity to speak with vintners from around the world while sampling dozens of their creations. Paired with food from the state’s top restaurants, Santé South is a culinary showcase for a great cause.

The MIND (Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia) Center is a national leader in Alzheimer’s disease research and clinical care. Since 2010, its researchers have used decades of data, brain imaging and genetic technologies to make discoveries about Alzheimer's. The MIND Center’s clinical trials program brings industry-sponsored research studies related to Alzheimer's and dementia to Mississippi.

The MIND Center Clinic offers diagnosis and outpatient treatment for patients with memory loss and cognitive impairment. The clinical team includes geriatricians, neurologists, nurse practitioners and social workers, all with expertise in caring for patients and families.

“The Santé South Wine Festival and hundreds of guests who attend help The MIND Center provide support and hope to Mississippians living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers,” said Patricia Palmer McClure, MIND Center Advisory Board member and Santé South event chair.

“We are thrilled to have Trustmark as this year’s presenting title sponsor. We are thankful for their ongoing commitment to The MIND Center’s mission to find new treatments and methods of prevention for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias,” she said.

This disease, which affects 57,000 Mississippians, has limited treatment options and no cures.

The wine festival proceeds will support programs such as the UMMC MIND Center – Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. This landmark research project will explore the factors that contribute to brain aging and the interaction between brain and physical function, such as gait and balance. The goal is to learn how to protect those abilities as we age and identify better methods to diagnose and prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

“This study is the culmination of two decades of collaboration between The MIND Center and Mayo Clinic. It will provide a wealth of information we will use toward our end goal to prevent Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Tom Mosley, Robbie and Dudley Hughes MIND Center Chair and director of The MIND Center.

“Alzheimer’s pathology doesn’t start when symptoms start, but in fact precedes symptoms by as much as two decades,” Mosley said. “Our work has shown links between risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes in mid-life, when people are in their 40s and 50s, and late-life memory loss and dementia.”

Founded by the late Norm Rush of BeauMad and Associates in 2006, Santé South raised more than $750,000 for Alzheimer’s Mississippi. In January 2021, the organization announced an expanded partnership with The MIND Center. With the realignment, Alzheimer’s Mississippi permanently joined The MIND Center and Santé South now benefits UMMC-led efforts.

“By redirecting their support and gifts to The MIND Center, prior donors and sponsors of Alzheimer’s Mississippi can continue to advance the programs and services they previously supported while helping to accelerate The MIND Center’s groundbreaking Alzheimer’s research right here in Mississippi,” said Denise Lafferty, chief strategy and operations officer for The MIND Center.

Sponsorship opportunities, which include access to festival VIP events, are currently available. For more information about sponsorships, contact The MIND Center at (601) 815-4237 or mindcenter@umc.edu.

For ticket purchases and more information about wine and food vendors, visit www.santesouth.org.