Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health
In 2018, the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) was established with a grant from the McCance Foundation and Henry McCance. The Center’s mission is to “maximize human potential through better brain health.”
The three founders and current co-directors are:
- Jonathan Rosand MD MSc, a neurologist: Emeritus Chief, Division of Neurocritical Care and Emergency Neurology and Emeritus Medical Director, Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit; Rosand's research focuses on stroke, brain hemorrhage and brain injury and the application of human genetic variation to reducing their impact.
- Rudy Tanzi PhD, a neuroscientist: Vice-Chair and Research Staff, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital; Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Child Neurology and Mental Retardation, Harvard Medical School; Dr. Tanzi has been investigating the genetics of neurological disease since a student in the 1980s when he participated in the first study that used genetic markers to find a disease gene (Huntington's disease).[citation needed] Dr. Tanzi co-discovered all three familial early-onset Alzheimer's disease (FAD) genes and several other neurological disease genes including that responsible for Wilson’s disease.[citation needed]
- Gregory Fricchione, MD, a psychiatrist: Associate Chief of Psychiatry; Director, Division of Psychiatry and Medicine; Director, Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine.
The Center brings together clinical and scientific perspectives from neurology, neuroscience and psychiatry to prevent common brain diseases before they occur. To do this they are identifying the tools necessary for monitoring brain health from conception to advanced age, and providing funding for and directing research toward the development of treatments that protect the brain early in the lifespan.
The McCance Center patient clinic at Mass General Hospital integrates these tools and treatments into primary care, providing access to cutting-edge research and the latest advancements in clinical care to stop brain disease from developing.
History
Henry McCance’s wife Allison was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2000, and in 2006 he joined other philanthropists to found the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. Over time, the fund came to support more than 75 collaborative researchers around the world including Dr. Tanzi, at Mass General Hospital. In 2018 Henry McCance and the McCance Foundation provided funding to establish the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health at Mass General Hospital. Rather than focusing on a cure for those already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, the center is focused on prevention drugs, lifestyle and other interventions.
Funded Programs
- Brain Health Clinical-Translational Program for Individuals at High Risk for Brain Disease: The McCance Center’s multi-disciplinary clinic at Mass General Hospital is for patients who are unaffected by brain disease but are at risk for developing it in the future. Here patients receive care while participating in the development and testing of new approaches to preserving brain function and preventing brain disease.
- Brain Care Score (R): Developed in the Center’s clinical-translational program and clinic, the McCance Brain Care Score (BCS) is based off of new research [ADD LINK] that proves that the number of people who develop dementia could be cut by one-third if they were able to alter their lifestyles, reducing the risk of stroke, depression and other brain diseases. Designed to be implemented in primary care settings anywhere, the BCS compiles all of the lifestyle choices that can protect the brain from disease into a simple score patients can review with their primary care doctors and improve over time.
- Omics-based Biomarkers of Brain Health: The Omics-based Biomarkers Project is using multi-omics analyses (genomics, proteomics, etc.) to discover the biomarkers that can serve as a simple early test for Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. These biomarkers provide a snapshot of brain health and predict an individual’s risk for cognitive decline, neurodegenerative disease, depression, anxiety, or stroke. Working with their international collaborators, McCance Center faculty are testing the broadest possible range of markers to see which can be converted to a simple test.
- Human Sleep Project: The McCance Center faculty and their collaborators in other institutions are using machine learning to analyze the brain’s electrical activities during sleep. The focus of this research is to arrest and reverse the diseases like Alzheimer’s or stroke before they manifest, by aggregating and analyzing sleep data from hundreds of thousands of individuals from diverse backgrounds. The goal of this research is that data on sleep patterns will reveal the earliest signs of brain diseases.
- Ensuring Health Equity by Protecting the Brain’s Blood Vessels: The McCance Center’s Cerebrovascular Health Program researches protecting the brain’s blood vessels as we age. Faculty in this program are pioneering new treatments and approaches to stop blood vessel degeneration before it can have an impact on our brains. This impact is even more pronounced in people from disadvantaged backgrounds and can be accelerated by adverse circumstances. [Citation] The Cerebrovascular Health Program has launched a new initiative to tackle this health inequality, and recruit investigators with the crucial tools to end inequalities in cerebrovascular health.
- Imaging
- "SPARC" Awards to Catalyze Brain Health Research: The McCance Center, in partnership with Mass General Neuroscience and the Mass General Research Institute, funds multidisciplinary teams of investigators. These Scientific Projects to Accelerate Research and Collaboration (SPARC) awards focus on identifying new indicators of brain health, developing interventions to preserve brain health and integrating these indicators and interventions into primary care.
Events
https://www.massgeneral.org/neurology/mccance-center/events/past-events
Website
https://www.massgeneral.org/neurology/mccance-center/
References