Breaking news, publications and research updates related to funding, advocacy, scientific advances and information about FTD, Alzheimer’s, dementia and related disorders
October 5, 2026 Katie Brandt, MGH FTD Unit Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, was featured on New Hampshire Public Radio. Katie spoke about the importance of support for family caregivers, including expert elder law and financial advice, [...]
September 28, 2026 September 28 – October 4, 2026 is World FTD Awareness Week. This year World FTD Awareness Week is putting the spotlight on FTD. Anyone can Put a Spotlight on FTD and the people affected by FTD by helping to raise awareness of FTD. World FTD [...]
September 20, 2026 The seventh episode of the second season of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available today. In season two, Katie Brandt, our Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public [...]
July 28, 2026 The sixth episode of the second season of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available today. In season two, Katie Brandt, our Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, [...]
July 17, 2026 (London, England) Our Speech Language Pathology team attended and presented research at the inaugural International Conference on Primary Progressive Aphasia (ICPPA). This conference focused on the nature and treatment of Primary Progressive Aphasia and [...]
July 16, 2026 (London, England) Our team presented a variety of new research findings at this conference, the largest forum in the world for the dementia research community. Our team’s presentations included: Anatomical Correlates Of Strategy Use During Memory Task [...]
July 12-16, 2026 (London, England) A large group of faculty and staff will represent the MGH FTD Unit in presenting the latest of our exciting research progress at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), the largest meeting dedicated to [...]
April 30, 2026 We are pleased to share that Axsome Therapeutics’ Auvelity has been granted FDA approval for the treatment of agitation associated with Alzheimer’s dementia. As the first non-antipsychotic option for this condition, Auvelity targets the NMDA and [...]
June 20, 2026 The fifth episode of the second season of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available today. In season two, Katie Brandt, our Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, [...]
June 17, 2026 Providence, RI Katie Brandt, the MGH FTD Unit’s Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, was a featured speaker at the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s Educating Across America tour stop in Providence, RI. Katie [...]
May 27-30, 2026 In its 29th year, Brad Dickerson, MD, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, had the honor of co-directing the annual Harvard Medical School’s Dementia: A Comprehensive Update continuing education course for medical professionals in downtown Boston and [...]
May 20, 2026 The fourth episode of the second season of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available today. In season two, Katie Brandt, our Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, [...]
April 20, 2026 The third episode of the second season of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available today. In season two, Katie Brandt, our Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, [...]
April 15, 2026 Dr. Alexandra Touroutoglou, Director of Imaging Operations of the MGH Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, was interviewed on the Harvard Thinking podcast about her research into super-agers, older [...]
March 20, 2026 The second episode of the second season of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available today. In season two, Katie Brandt, our Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public [...]
February 20, 2026 The second season of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, launches today. In season two, Katie Brandt, our Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, will talk to various [...]
November 20, 2025 The tenth episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, [...]
October 31, 2025 We are excited to let you know that the ALLFTD study has received funding from the National Institutes of Health for the next phase, currently referred to as ALLFTD2. ALLFTD is a natural history study, which collects critical data to examine the [...]
October 20, 2025 The ninth episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. . This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie [...]
September 21, 2025 September 21-27, 2025 is World FTD Awareness Week. This year World FTD Awareness Week asks the world: “What If It’s FTD?” Aiming to raise awareness of the presenting symptoms of FTD and to contrast the disease to other forms of dementia, particularly [...]
September 20, 2025 The eighth episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brant, [...]
September 12, 2025 Katie Brandt, Director of MGH FTD Unit Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, recently shared her FTD story with Lynn Hallarman, MD, a health care journalist, and “Katie’s Story,” published at Aeon.co, is the result. Dr. [...]
August 25, 2025 In “Emma & Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey,” an interview with Diane Sawyer broadcast on ABC, Emma Heming Willis shared the caregiving journey that she and the extended Willis family have been on since her husband Bruce [...]
August 20, 2025 The seventh episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, [...]
July 31, 2025 (Toronto, ON, Canada) Our team presented a variety of new research findings at this conference, the largest forum in the world for the dementia research community. Our team’s presentations included: Aberrant Intrinsic Functional Network Connectivity in [...]
July 20, 2025 The sixth episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, the [...]
June 20, 2025 The fifth episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brandt, the [...]
May 20, 2025 The fourth episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit, and Katie Brant, the [...]
May 14, 2025 On May 2, 2025, Katie Brandt, the MGH FTD Unit’s Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, gave the keynote address at the Association for Frontotemporal Degenerations’ annual Education Conference. Katie shared how dementia [...]
May 7, 2025 Thank you Governor Maura Healey for proclaiming May 7 as Brain Donor Awareness Day in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts! Brain donation is the most generous gift a patient and their family can give to research. Being able to examine brain tissue from a [...]
April 20, 2025 The third episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. This episode features an interview with Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit. Dr. Dickerson explains [...]
April 1, 2025 Katie Brandt, Director of Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations at the MGH FTD Unit, shared her family’s connection to FTD and advice for caregivers on Providence’s NBC 10 WJAR ahead of her keynote speech at the Alzheimer’s [...]
March 20, 2025 The second episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. This episode features an interview with Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit. Dr. Dickerson explains [...]
March 5, 2025 AFTD is honored to welcome Katie Brandt, Director of MGH FTD Unit Caregiver Support Services and Public Relations, as the Keynote Speaker for its 2025 Education Conference. A passionate advocate, educator, and leader in caregiver research, Katie brings [...]
March 4, 2025 At MGH we reached a milestone on March 4, 2025: one year of being able to administer lecanemab, the first new amyloid-lowering therapy for patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Working closely with our colleagues at the Brigham, we have [...]
February 20, 2025 The first episode of From Care to Cure, a podcast from the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit, is available now. This episode features an interview with Dr. Brad Dickerson, Director of the MGH FTD Unit. Dr. Dickerson explains [...]
February 13, 2025 The MGH FTD Unit is excited to share that we are launching From Care to Cure, a podcast exploring care for a life lived with frontotemporal disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Our first season will feature host Katie Brandt, [...]
February 11, 2025 Do you have questions about care planning after an FTD diagnosis? The MGH FTD Unit is excited to offer a four part webinar series about the Care Plan Trifecta (CPT), a framework to help you develop a person-centered care plan that centers on the person [...]
January 15, 2025 (San Juan, Puerto Rico) Our team members attended the Human Amyloid Imaging meeting that highlights cutting edge research on molecular imaging and other biomarkers of AD, FTD, and related disorders. We presented some of our own findings, and learned [...]
December 23, 2024 We have entered a new era of improved and emerging biologically-based diagnostic biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD-related neurodegenerative disorders (ADRD) that are rapidly impacting evaluation and care paradigms in every clinical [...]
October 7, 2024 Dr. Dickerson co-authored a Boston Globe op-ed about cognitive assessment in governmental leaders, writing that “the Federal Aviation Agency requires commercial airline pilots to regularly undergo an assessment of cognition and lists more than 200 [...]
September 19, 2024 (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Our team attended the International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias biennial conference, the major worldwide FTD conference, and presented new research findings. The FTD Unit team’s presentations included: improvements in [...]
September 7, 2024 The current workflow in the Massachusetts General Hospital Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and Memory Disorders Unit for the diagnostic evaluation of a patient suspected of having MCI or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or an AD related [...]
July 28, 2024 (Philadelphia, PA) Our team presented a variety of new research findings at this conference, the largest forum in the world for the dementia research community. Our team’s presentations included: improvements in caregiver knowledge of advance care planning [...]
July 10, 2024 Dr. Dickerson participated in a PBS News Hour interview about his perspective on cognitive function in presidential candidates. Dr. Dickerson said “it is very difficult to separate changes in speech and language that accompany normal aging from those that [...]
Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved donanemab for the treatment of people living with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease, which includes mild cognitive impairment and the mild dementia stage of Alzheimer’s disease, with confirmed amyloid plaques.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
5:30 - 7:30 PM EST
Today the first MGH patients received lecanemab infusions for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. We have been working diligently with our colleagues at the Brigham to develop uniform procedures for identifying the appropriate candidates for this new class of treatment, [...]
Medicare lifted the requirement that FDA-approved amyloid PET scans would only be covered if they were performed as part of a clinical trial, now enabling them to be ordered and interpreted in routine clinical practice when a person is being evaluated for possible [...]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration converted Leqembi (lecanemab), indicated to treat adult patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, to traditional approval following a determination that a confirmatory trial verified clinical benefit. Leqembi is the first amyloid [...]
On behalf of those impacted by Alzheimer’s disease, the Alzheimer’s Association enthusiastically welcomes today’s historic FDA approval of aducanumab (Biogen/Eisai) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
The FDA’s approval of the Biogen-Eisai drug, aducanumab, marks a milestone achievement in Alzheimer’s disease research. This drug is the first approved treatment shown to slow the progression of this disease. It is also a reflection of the years of research and momentum [...]
Tony Bennett has Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of age-related dementia. Alzheimer's is characterized by a progressive memory loss that robs its sufferers of many of the gifts that we all take for granted — speech, understanding, treasured memories, [...]
Dr. Anthony Fauci talked about the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine as it relates to persons with dementia during a January 25 meeting of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA) Advisory Council. Dr. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and [...]
The next meeting of the Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services will be held on January 25, 2021, from 1:00pm to 4:30pm EST. The meeting, due to COVID-19, will be virtual and webcast at http://www.hhs.gov/live. During the January 25, 2021, meeting [...]
Final recommendations on ways to reduce disparities in dementia, which were developed during a stakeholder roundtable sponsored by the Milken Institute Alliance to Improve Dementia Care, will be released in the first quarter of 2021, Nora Super, executive director of [...]
No one knows why these diseases start in specific regions of the brain but we think it is influenced by the normal organization of brain networks,” said Bradford Dickerson, a behavioral neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-principal investigator in the [...]
The first-ever commercial Alzheimer’s blood test is on the market. It’s big progress. Some experts have reservations because it hasn’t yet secured FDA approval, among other limitations. While Alzheimer’s is among the top six leading causes of death in the United States [...]
When Kate Sieloff’s husband, Karl, began acting strange, she didn’t know where to turn. Her hard-working, affectionate spouse was suddenly having fits of anger and aggression. He stopped paying the bills. Karl, 56 at the time, was an engineer at General Motors, where [...]
We are grateful to those who support our research and care services, including the National Institutes of Health, private foundations, and grass-roots philanthropic donors.
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MGH FTD Unit
55 Fruit St., Wang Bldg., 8th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02114
mghftdunit@mgh.harvard.edu
