There is nothing more powerful than the stories of people who are directly affected by Alzheimer’s. This week’s BrainStorm host, Jon Summers, Chief Communications Officer at UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, spoke with a few patients and caregivers who share their deeply personal experiences to help raise awareness of Alzheimer’s. They discuss the disproportionate impact of the disease on Black and Latino people, and the hope they have for the future. UsAgainstAlzheimer’s lifts voices of Alzheimer’s...

What do technology, AI and the Arts have in common? In part 2 of an interview with Susan Magsamen, founder and director of the International Arts and Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Ms. Magsamen talks with BrainStorm host Meryl Comer about how technology and AI are best used to advance the evolving science of neuroaesthetics. Neuroaesthetics is an expanding field of research aimed at the intersection of psychological aesthetics,...

Art for Art's sake is about to become passe with the emerging science of neuroaesthetics, an expanding field of research aimed at the intersection of psychological aesthetics, biological mechanisms, and human evolution. Susan Magsamen, founder and director of the International Arts and Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine talks with BrainStorm host Meryl Comer about the health and healing benefits when we participate in the arts. Ms....

Alzheimer’s disease spares no one… and this story could easily be anyone’s story. Debra Tann Ed D., author of The Race of Dementia talks with host Meryl Comer about juggling her advocacy work while caring for her husband with dementia at home. Recipient of the 2023 Bright Focus Foundation Community Impact Award, Dr. Tann breaks the silence of the Alzheimer’s journey and talks about the stigma of Alzheimer’s and her push for education, equity, and access to health services for all.  This...

The Alzheimer’s journey tests and complicates the interpersonal dynamics in families as they try to protect the dignity and privacy of their loved ones. When the family is influential and privileged it’s even harder.  That’s why breaking the silence of the journey is both a gift and a necessity to break through the stigma of the disease. In this episode of BrainStorm, Lily Johnson White speaks out for the first time six years after the passing of her mother, a philanthropist and storied New...

Should Alzheimer’s drugs be treated like all other drugs when it comes to Medicare coverage? The Alliance for Aging Research CEO Sue Peschin and BrainStorm host Meryl Comer dive into polling data that reveals most American voters, regardless of party, disagree with CMS’s policy that will limit access. Their conversation sheds light on how the coverage decision, if it stands, will create not only greater disparities, but also have wide-ranging implications on coverage for other...

 Alzheimer’s is being singled out in Medicare’s decision on reimbursement for patients. President of Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation and Co-Founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, John Dwyer spoke with host Meryl Comer about the ramification to patients and how this decision will create greater disparities. Take a listen. This episode is sponsored by Genentech and Eisai.  Support the show

We the Scientists: How a Daring Team of Parents and Doctors Forged a New Path for Medicine In Part 2 of the interview with Amy Dockser Marcus, Pulitzer Prize winning Wall Street Reporter and Author, she and host Meryl Comer discuss a rare disease often likened to Children’s Alzheimer’s.  The common thread is advancing the science with new pathways for treating disease and conducting research. Amy talks about if this new collaborative research model aimed at saving children would work for...

We the Scientists: How a Daring Team of Parents and Doctors Forged A New Path for Medicine  Pulitzer Prize winning Wall Street Reporter Amy Marcus, in her new book We the Scientists, discusses a rare disease often likened to Children’s Alzheimer’s with BrainStorm host, Meryl Comer. Not only are the patients young, but their parents are desperate to help scientists find a drug to slow disease progression to extend their lives. Most children, born seemingly normal, rarely live beyond the age of...

Want to improve your brain’s performance? Find out the latest from Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, Founder and Chief Director of The Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas. In this episode Dr. Chapman talks about progress on the world’s largest brain health study to measure improvements after training the brain.  No matter what your age, learn to maximize your cognitive potential to be as sharp as you were in your 30s and 40s. This episode of BrainStorm is sponsored by...

Want to improve your brain’s performance? Why not? You’re using it anyway. Find out the latest from Dr. Sandi Bond Chapman, Founder and Chief Director of The Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas. In this episode Dr. Chapman talks about how to maximize your cognitive potential with the goal, no matter what your age, to be as sharp as you were in your 30s and 40s. To learn more about BrainStorm go to usagainstalzheimers.org. This Episode of BrainStorm is sponsored by...

Rebecca Chopp, Ph.D., built a life around a profession that prized the mind and then was unexpectedly diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Chopp, former Chancellor of the University of Denver, President of Swarthmore College and Colgate University, and Dean and Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, talks with Meryl Comer about the role of spirituality and emancipatory transformation in managing life through the prism of her early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.  Support the show

Rebecca Chopp, Ph.D., built a life around a profession that prized the mind and then was unexpectedly diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Hear how Dr. Chopp, former Chancellor of the University of Denver, President of Swarthmore College and Colgate University, and Dean and Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, learned to embrace joy after coming to terms with her Alzheimer’s diagnosis.   Support the show

BrainStorm host Meryl Comer talks with Dr. Rudy Tanzi, Vice-Chair of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Co-Director of the McCance Center for Brain Health and Professor at Harvard Medical School.  Hear what Dr. Tanzi discovered through his creative collaboration on 4 books with integrative medicine guru, Deepak Chopra, and his action plan "SHIELD" to offset the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Support the show

Will 2023 be a boom or bust year for new Alzheimer’s drugs?  In this episode of BrainStorm host Meryl Comer talks with Dr. Rudy Tanzi, Vice-Chair of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Co-Director of the McCance Center for Brain Health and Professor at Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Tanzi discusses the promising new drugs in a highly charged scientific environment and how these drugs have opened the door to advancement in the treatment of Alzheimer’s.  Support the show

The Food and Drug Administration expedited approval of Lecanemab, a drug developed by Eisai and Biogen, that demonstrated positive results in slowing Alzheimer's disease. What does this mean for the future of Alzheimer’s advocacy? In this episode of BrainStorm host Meryl Comer talks with George Vradenburg, Chairman and Co-Founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, Convener of Global CEOi and Co-Convener with the World Economic Forum of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative. They explore the implications...

The Food and Drug Administration expedited approval of Lecanemab, a drug developed by Eisai and Biogen, that demonstrated positive results in slowing Alzheimer's disease. What does this mean for the future of Alzheimer’s advocacy? In this episode of BrainStorm, host Meryl Comer talks with George Vradenburg, Chairman and Co-Founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, Convener of Global CEOi and Co-Convener with the World Economic Forum of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative.  They discuss the immediate...

Rising longevity and the aging of boomers worldwide are radically altering both the demographic landscape and every aspect of our personal, social, financial, and political lives.  In this episode of BrainStorm, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s National Summit keynote speaker Ken Dychtwald, Founder and CEO of Age Wave, talks about the future of health, medicine, aging, and longevity.  What gero-science breakthroughs are currently at the tipping point and how can we ensure that our health spans and brain...

Your brain controls and coordinates everything your body does from the movement of your fingers to your heart rate. It also plays a crucial role in how you control and process your emotions.  In this episode of BrainStorm, host Meryl Comer continues her conversation with Dr. Larry Cahill, Professor of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine. They discuss why sex matters in neuroscience and how it influences the brain and emotional memory. Dr. Cahill’s research on...

Just as the bodies of men and women are different, so are their brains.   In this episode of BrainStorm, host Meryl Comer speaks with Dr. Larry Cahill, Professor of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine. They discuss why sex matters in neuroscience and how it influences the brain and emotional memory. Dr. Cahill’s research on sex-based differences gained national media attention around the sleep medication Ambien when it showed that women were negatively affected...

Alzheimer’s prevention, early detection, and access to treatments that builds equity for all must begin within communities.  In this episode of BrainStorm, host Meryl Comer speaks with Dr. Fayron Epps, Assistant Professor and Director of Community Engagement and Research, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University. They discuss the commitment Dr. Epps and UsAgainstAlzheimer’s has made to educate minority communities on ways to...

In part two of BrainStorm sleep and Alzheimer's series, host Meryl Comer speaks with Erik K. St. Louis, M.D, M.S., Co-Director of the Center for Sleep Medicine and Director of the Mayo Sleep Behavior and Neurophysiology Research Laboratory, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. St. Louis gets down to the basics of the sleep-brain connection and the science behind it.  In this episode, learn how to create the best environment for sleep. To watch The National Alzheimer's Virtual...

People of all ages worry about not getting enough sleep, and yet many don’t mention it as a concern to their doctor. When it comes to brain health, how important IS a good night’s sleep? In this episode of BrainStorm, host Meryl Comer speaks with Erik K. St. Louis, M.D, M.S., Co-Director of the Center for Sleep Medicine and Director of the Mayo Sleep Behavior and Neurophysiology Research Laboratory, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. St. Louis gets down to the basics of the...

In part 2 of BrainStorm, Nutrition and Alzheimer's,  host Meryl Comer continues to speak with Ayesha Z. Sherzai, MD, MAS, Vascular Neurologist, Research Scientist and Dean Sherzai, MD, PhD, MPH, MAS, Behavioral Neurologist / Neuroscientist; and Co-directors of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University. This dynamic husband and wife duo lead the largest clinical and observational study on Alzheimer's. Their book “The Alzheimer’s Solution” on the brain-food connection  shows...

Poor nutrition is a major health problem that affects every part of the body, including the brain. It is among the top risk factors for dementia.  In this episode of BrainStorm, host Meryl Comer speaks with Ayesha Z. Sherzai, MD, MAS, Vascular Neurologist, Research Scientist and Dean Sherzai, MD, PhD, MPH, MAS, Behavioral Neurologist / Neuroscientist; and Co-directors of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University. This dynamic husband and wife duo lead the largest clinical...