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    Overview

    "The Pre-AD Initiative" (Prediction and Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease) builds on the dovetailing of three recent breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s research: definitive proof that beta-amyloid is the trigger for the disease, the development of a revolutionary "Alzheimer’s in a Dish™" model for drug discovery, and blood-based biomarkers that can diagnose and track the disease decades before symptoms appear. These advancements allow us to design safe and affordable drug and natural product combinations that could prevent Alzheimer’s disease in those at risk.

    The McCance Center is conducting clinical trials to test whether our carefully designed combinations of known drugs and natural products can be repurposed to reduce or eliminate Alzheimer’s pathology in patients as well as those who have not been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, but harbor Alzheimer’s pathology in their brains.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Why now?

    These trials are possible due to the recent dovetailing of three major breakthroughs:

    1. Definitive data from recent clinical trials showing that beta-amyloid deposition indeed triggers Alzheimer’s disease.
    2. Our ground-breaking, mini-human brain organoid model of Alzheimer’s (Alzheimer’s in a Dish™) has revolutionized drug discovery, making it 100 times faster and cheaper.
    3. New blood-based biomarkers (tests using a simple blood draw) that accurately track Alzheimer’s brain pathology, allowing for innovative clinical trials that can rapidly determine which known drugs effectively prevent Alzheimer’s pathology.
    What about the two FDA-Approved Alzheimer’s drugs?

    While two new FDA-approved Alzheimer’s drugs (Leqembi and Kisunla) can effectively clear beta-amyloid from the brain and slow down cognitive decline, they are expensive and have major safety concerns, precluding their general use for preventing Alzheimer’s disease in those who harbor Alzheimer’s brain pathology but are still cognitively fine. Thus, pre-symptomatic patients need affordable and safe alternatives to these drugs to end Alzheimer’s disease by employing a strategy of "early prediction, early detection and early intervention". The McCance Center’s clinical trials are filling a gap by repurposing safe, known FDA drugs, natural products and nutraceuticals that can be democratized across all socioeconomic strata.

    Why focus on early intervention when many people already have AD?

    Common diseases that challenge healthy aging, like heart disease and diabetes, can be effectively managed through consistent measures of cholesterol levels for heart disease and blood glucose levels for diabetes. When it comes to the brain, however, we do not diagnose diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson disease until the brain has deteriorated to the point of dysfunction. The pathological process of Alzheimer’s disease begins 10-30 years before cognitive deficits appear. We need safe, effective, and affordable drugs that can be widely used for prevention, decades before onset of clinical symptoms, akin to using cholesterol-lowering drugs to prevent heart disease.

    What about living a healthy lifestyle?

    Grounded in Dr. Tanzi’s SHIELD method, the McCance Center is also pursuing research on lifestyle interventions. McCance Center Faculty recently co-authored a study testing a multimodal lifestyle intervention (Ornish et al.), which demonstrated effectiveness in delaying cognitive decline. For early detection and prediction of AD, we have also developed a blood-based test that determines one’s nutritional risk index, which is capable of predicting who is at greatest risk for future onset of AD based on their diet alone. This will also be used to predict those at greatest risk even before Alzheimer’s pathology arises in the brain. For more information, visit this page.