Brain Fitness Quarterly Update

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK

Greetings!

As we close out 2025, I am grateful for the innovative work accomplished by the McCance Center team this year.

Topping off the list of achievements is the rollout of our Pre-AD Initiative. I am incredibly thankful for the anonymous donor who launched our $20 million philanthropic challenge to fund this groundbreaking research.

We have matched $7,650,000 in gifts and pledges (over the next 5 years), bringing us more than two-thirds of the way towards matching the full $40M. We are humbled and grateful to have a five-year, $5M commitment from Henry McCance and his family foundation, and a two-year $2.5 million commitment from Phyllis Rappaport and The Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation. We have also raised another $150k from four new donors to the McCance Center.

Other successes this year include:

The launch of our NPC1 Trial (see more below)
Hosting the McCance Center Seminar Series with more than a dozen top experts in their disciplines and offering Continuing Education credits to attending nurses and physicians.
A large volume of high-impact media coverage spotlighted McCance Center-affiliated discoveries on CNN, National Geographic, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, the Boston Globe, and many others.
Publication of McCance-affiliated researchers’ work in dozens of prestigious journals. You can find many of them on our website.

There is much to be excited about in the world of Alzheimer’s disease research in the New Year. I look forward to sharing updates with you throughout 2026.

Best Wishes,

Rudy Tanzi, PhD, Director

Clinical Trials Progress Update

In March, we commenced the first phase of the NPC1 Clinical Trial (Natural Product Combination 1), which aims to enhance the clearance of Abeta (Amyloid-beta) in the brain and reduce microglial inflammation.

Soon we will begin enrolling participants with biomarker evidence of AD pathology and test combinations of known approved drugs and natural products that have been shown to slow or stop Alzheimer’s disease pathology in our human brain organoid “Alzheimer’s-in-a-Dish” models.

Our goal is to conduct a series of rapid and cost-effective clinical trials that will hopefully lead to successful treatments for Alzheimer’s in just five to seven years.

Keep an eye on our website for updates.

McCance Center Year In Review

The McCance Center team was highly productive in 2025. Here is a snapshot of our successes:

McCance Center-affiliated faculty published 99 papers in FY25.
Raised over $25M in gifts and pledges to support our clinical research.
Launched the Natural Product Combination 1 (NPC1) trial.
Published the results of a McCance-sponsored trial on the impact of supplementation with Nicotinamide Riboside on fatigue, sleep, depressive symptoms, and executive functioning in long COVID.
Moved into a new space in the MGB headquarters at Assembly Row in Somerville.
Welcomed Senior Biostatistician Yan Gao, PhD, to the McCance Center team.

Kudos

Hats off to McCance Clinical Trials Director, Dr. Gene Bowman, 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 Laboratory.

❄️ ❄️ ❄️ Sending Holiday Wishes ❄️ ❄️ ❄️

Season's Greetings from the McCance Center team! We wish you peace and extend our gratitude for your support of our mission. Cheers to a new year full of discoveries and progress!

on our clinical programs and research initiatives.

If you would like to learn more about how you can support

the McCance Center for Brain Health, please contact Michael Johnson

at mjohnson107@mgh.harvard.edu or 617-643-9989.