We appreciate your interest in the work of our MGH FTD Unit. As you can read about in other sections of the website, we provide medical clinical care for patients and families living with Frontotemporal Dementia, Primary Progressive Aphasia, Posterior Cortical Atrophy, atypical AD, and related conditions.
We appreciate your interest in the work of our MGH FTD Unit. As you can read about in other sections of the website, we provide medical clinical care for patients and families living with Frontotemporal Dementia, Primary Progressive Aphasia, Posterior Cortical Atrophy, atypical AD (including early-onset AD), and related conditions (including Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Corticobasal Syndrome, and FTD-ALS). We also perform a variety of types of research to try to improve our understanding of these conditions and our ability to provide high-quality care. This research includes various types of specialized brain scans (MRI and PET), innovative technology to measure cognition, mood, and behavior, genetics and fluid biomarkers, caregiver support programs, predictors of rates of progression, and brain autopsy. We
have innovative programs on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Computational Neuropsychiatry including natural language processing and artificial intelligence-based measures of digital speech and language. We also study typical aging and the special phenomenon of Superaging.
I feel tremendously fortunate to lead a talented, creative, resourceful team of professionals who enable the MGH FTD Unit to strive forward in our mission to improve the field’s understanding of these disorders with the goals of finding a cure and providing comprehensive care and support for patients and families living with these conditions.
Once we get to know new patients and families, we make or confirm the diagnosis and work with the patient and family to develop a care plan. We also offer research opportunities to many patients and families, so that we can work together to learn more to fight back against these diseases. Our team also continues to lead many types of support groups, educational forums, and community events.
Our research is supported largely by federal, foundation, and industry funding. Many projects start with seed funding making direct use of generous philanthropic contributions from our community. Our support programs are almost entirely supported by philanthropic funding.
Please explore our website to learn more about the work we do. We hope you find it informative, and we welcome any questions you have. If you would like to learn more, please reach out to us.
Best wishes and please give us any feedback you would like to communicate.
Brad Dickerson, MD
Director, MGH FTD Unit