For Linda, with love — and hope for others.
When David Salloum gave a transformative gift to the University Hospital Foundation, he did it with one person in mind: his wife, Linda.
Diagnosed with early-onset dementia at just 54 years old, Linda was the kind of person who noticed something was wrong before anyone else did, thoughtful and self-aware, even as the disease began to change her. David's gift carries her name forward in the most meaningful way he knows how.
Linda was 54, a kind and intelligent mother of two, when she received her diagnosis. Her daughters were 11 and 14. Looking back, David can now see signs he hadn't understood at the time. "When we got the diagnosis, I thought back to things she had done two or three years earlier and realized, OK, that's why she did that," he says.
For families navigating early-onset dementia, the path forward is rarely clear. Resources are fragmented. Referrals can be slow. And the weight of day-to-day caregiving often falls on spouses, children and friends without adequate support or guidance.
Sadly, Linda passed away in 2025. But David believes deeply in what his gift can do for others — people who are earlier in the same road his family has walked, who deserve faster support and a clearer way forward.
The Dementia Care Pathways Project is a multi-year initiative led by University of Alberta researchers Dr. Adrian Wagg and Dr. Holly Symonds-Brown. Supported by a $1 million grant from Alberta's Primary Care Innovation Fund and philanthropic gifts like David's, it is designed to transform dementia care in Alberta through earlier diagnosis, coordinated clinical pathways and stronger community supports — so that families have a plan, not just a diagnosis.
