Rudolph E. Tanzi

Dr. Tanzi and his team have used Alzheimer’s genes and human stem cells to create “Alzheimer’s-in-a-Dish” - a three-dimensional human stem cell-derived neural culture system that was the first to recapitulate both pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease: plaques and tangles. This model has made drug screening for Alzheimer’s disease considerably faster and more effective. Using this system, Dr. Tanzi has developed several novel therapies for AD including gamma secretase modulators aimed at plaque pathology. These promising drugs are now heading into clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease. Most recently, Dr. Tanzi and his team have discovered that beta-amyloid, the main component of senile plaques, may play a role in the innate immune system of the brain operating as an anti-microbial peptide, suggesting a possible role for infection in the etiology and pathogenesis of AD. Most recently, Dr. Tanzi showed a link between herpes viruses and plaque production in Alzheimer's disease, proposing the hypothesis that brain plaques causing Alzheimer's disease may form as a defense mechanism to protect the brain against viruses, bacteria and other microbes.

Tanzi serves on dozens of editorial and scientific advisory boards, and as Chair of the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund Research Consortium. He has received numerous awards, including the two highest awards for Alzheimer's disease research: The Metropolitan Life Award and The Potamkin Prize. He was included on the list of the "Harvard 100 Most Influential Alumni", and was chosen by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation as a “Rock Star of Science”. In 2015, he was named by TIME magazine to the TIME100 Most Influential People in the World list. For his invention of "Alzheimer's-in-a-Dish with Dr. Doo Yeon Kim, in 2015, he and Kim received the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award, the nation's highest award for invention and innovation. He also received the Silver Innovator Award.

Dr. Tanzi and his team have used Alzheimer’s genes and human stem cells to create “Alzheimer’s-in-a-Dish” - a three-dimensional human stem cell-derived neural culture system that was the first to recapitulate both pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease: plaques and tangles. This model has made drug screening for Alzheimer’s disease considerably faster and more effective. Using this system, Dr. Tanzi has developed several novel therapies for AD including gamma secretase modulators aimed at plaque pathology. These promising drugs are now heading into clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease. Most recently, Dr. Tanzi and his team have discovered that beta-amyloid, the main component of senile plaques, may play a role in the innate immune system of the brain operating as an anti-microbial peptide, suggesting a possible role for infection in the etiology and pathogenesis of AD. Most recently, Dr. Tanzi showed a link between herpes viruses and plaque production in Alzheimer's disease, proposing the hypothesis that brain plaques causing Alzheimer's disease may form as a defense mechanism to protect the brain against viruses, bacteria and other microbes.

Tanzi was awarded an honorary doctorate from The University of Rhode Island on May 17, 2015.

Dr. Tanzi has published over 500 scientific papers including the top three most cited papers in the field of Alzheimer's disease research. Dr. Tanzi also co-authored the books "Decoding Darkness: The Search the Genetic Causes of Alzheimer's Disease, the New York Times Best Seller book “Super Brain: Unleashing the Explosive Power of Your Mind to Maximize Health, Happiness, and Spiritual Well-Being" Paperback – October 22, 2013” and "Super Genes: Unlock the Astonishing Power of Your DNA for Optimum Health and Well-Being", "The Healing Self: A Revolutionary New Plan to Supercharge Your Immunity and Stay Well for Life" with Deepak Chopra. Tanzi has made numerous television appearances on shows such as CBS This Morning and Dr. Oz. He also hosts the shows "Super Brain with Dr. Rudy Tanzi" "Super Genes with Dr. Rudy Tanzi" and "The Brain Body Mind Connection with Dr. Rudy Tanzi and Dr. Deepak Chopra" on PBS television.

Tanzi discovered (with others) the other two early-onset familial Alzheimer's genes known as the presenilins 1 and 2, in 1995.

Rudolph Tanzi (also Rudy Tanzi) is the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard University, and Vice-Chair of Neurology, Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, and Co-Director of the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). 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). 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. As the leader of the Cure Alzheimer's Fund Alzheimer’s Genome Project, Tanzi has carried out multiple genome wide association studies of thousands of Alzheimer’s families leading to the identification of novel AD candidate genes, including CD33 and the first two rare mutations causing late-onset AD in the ADAM10 gene. His research on the role of zinc and copper in AD has led to clinical trials at Prana Biotechnology. He is also working on gamma secretase modulators (together with Steve Wagner, UCSD) for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's. He also serves as Chair of the Cure Alzheimer's Fund Research Leadership Group and Director the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund Alzheimer’s Genome Project™.

Tanzi received his B.S. in microbiology and B.A.in history from the University of Rochester in 1980. In 1990, he received his Ph.D. in neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, where his doctoral thesis was on the discovery and isolation of the first Alzheimer's disease gene - the amyloid precursor protein (APP), published in 1987 in Science.