Welcome to a new video series from GEN Edge entitled FRONT ROW!

Front Row, hosted by contributing editor Malorye Branca, takes us to the frontlines of research in a key area of biomedicine, talking to newsmakers and thought leaders about their research and the current challenges facing their field.

In this inaugural three-part series, Branca looks at the current state of Alzheimer’s disease research. Her special guests are three leading and talented scientists at the forefront of research:

Part 1 – Rudy Tanzi, PhD (Mass General Hospital, Boston) – New Genetic Findings

Part 2 – R. Nolan Townsend (CEO LEXEO Therapeutics) – Pioneering Gene Therapy

Part 3 – Hank Zetterberg (Guttenberg University) – Blood Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s

[ Click the lower right icon to view fullscreen with transcript ^ ]

In Part 1 of this series—“New Genetic Findings”—Branca interviews Rudy Tanzi, PhD, one of the leading and widely respected researchers in the field of Alzheimer’s disease for more than three decades.

A pioneer in the genetics of Alzheimer’s, a founder and/or advisor to multiple biotech companies, co-director of the McCance Center for Brain Health at Mass General Hospital in Boston, and a successful book author, Tanzi has strong views about the lack of translational success in turning genetics insights into meaningful therapies.

Gathering evidence from whole-genome sequencing studies and 3D Alzheimer’s-in-a-dish models, Tanzi stresses the power of genome analysis and explains where he thinks the pharma industry has gone wrong. He lays out the key steps in disease pathogenesis and the early promise in clinical trials of new therapies that are as much about when to target the disease as what or where.

Previous articlePart II: LEXEO CEO R. Nolan Townsend Discusses Pioneering Alzheimer’s Gene Therapy
Next articleEnzyme Implicated in Positive Effects of Exercise on Metabolic Health and Age-Related Type 2 Diabetes Risk