McCance Center for Brain Health at MGH

02/04/2026

Join our colleagues from Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease this May at a forum focused on developing Parkinson’s disease prevention trials. Learn more and register: trials2prevent-asyn-disease.mgh.harvard.edu

02/03/2026

We are racing to find a cure through our Prediction and Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease (Pre-AD) Initiative. Your support can fund the breakthrough clinical trials and lab research needed to end this disease. Thanks to a generous philanthropic match, your donation will be doubled! Help us hit the mark with a donation today: https://bit.ly/McCanceFund

01/30/2026

McCance-affiliated researchers have received a $1 million grant from the Alzheimer’s Association Part the Cloud movement. The funding will support work on the discovery of novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Rudy Tanzi is a co-investigator with principal investigators Can Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., and Changning Wang, Ph.D. :

Grants were awarded to 11 studies developing innovative potential new treatments for Alzheimer’s and other diseases that cause dementia.

01/30/2026

We are excited to welcome Brianna Wang to the McCance Center team as Clinical Research Project Manager II! Brianna will provide project and operational management for our clinical research studies. She previously worked as a Clinical Trials Specialist at BIDMC.
Learn more about McCance Center research here: massgeneral.org/neurology/mccance-center/alzheimers-clinical-trials-platform

01/29/2026

Dr. Rudy Tanzi, Director of the McCance Center and McCance-affiliated researcher, Dr. Raja Bhattacharyya, an investigator in the MGB Genetics Aging Research Unit, discovered two familial Alzheimer’s disease mutations in the RIN3 gene that drive neuronal cell pathology as part of the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease. The investigators will study these novel mutations to attempt to develop therapies aimed at preventing this pathology. The study is published in Science Advances:https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx2127

01/27/2026

The McCance Center kicks off its 2026 Seminar Series next month with Ana Griciuc, PhD, on February 9th at 11 am. Don’t miss out on the insights from industry leaders and innovators throughout the year! More speakers to come! Learn more: massgeneral.org/neurology/mccance-center/events

01/21/2026

McCance Center Director, Dr. Rudy Tanzi, shares his "SHIELD" method for brain health in this Washington Post piece. washingtonpost.com/health/2026/01/21/brain-aging-tips-harvard/

Harvard scientist Rudolph Tanzi shares his plan for brain health and aging well, including habits for sleep, stress and social interaction.

01/16/2026

The McCance Center welcomes Jorge Parada-Cisneros to the team as a Clinical Research Coordinator. Bilingual in Spanish and English, Jorge will work with participants in our Natural Product Combination 1 (NPC1) trial. Jorge holds a B.A. in Psychological & Brain Sciences and Italian Studies from Colgate University.

Learn more about the NPC1 trial: massgeneral.org/neurology/mccance-center/alzheimers-clinical-trials-platform

01/14/2026

New paper with our colleagues at Rice University on the use of machine learning to map Alzheimer’s disease. Learn more here: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41474009/

01/13/2026

New study by McCance-affiliated researchers published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS):

Protein misfolding in the brain is a key pathological hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases. Optical imaging of misfolded proteins in disease mode...

01/05/2026

Kudos to McCance Clinical Trials Director Gene Bowman, ND, MPH, on his promotion to Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Learn more about Dr. Bowman’s work with the McCance Center Brain Nutrition Lab: massgeneral.org/neurology/mccance-center/brain-nutrition-lab

12/29/2025

This season of giving and gatherings reminds us that our work brings much-needed hope to families facing Alzheimer’s disease. We are grateful for every donation that supports our groundbreaking research. These gifts are a meaningful way to honor a loved one or a caregiver.

Please consider making a year-end donation to our Center. bit.ly/McCanceFund