Rudy Tanzi, Ph.D.

Dr. Rudolph Tanzi is the vice-chair of neurology and director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and serves as the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Tanzi co-discovered three of the first Alzheimer’s disease genes and has identified several others in the Alzheimer’s Genome Project, which he directs. He also discovered the Wilson’s disease gene and participated in the discovery of several other neurological disease genes. Most recently, he has used AD genes to create a three-dimensional human stem cell-derived neural culture system that recapitulates AD plaque and tangle pathology. Using this system, Dr. Tanzi is also developing therapeutics for AD including gamma secretase modulators and metal chaperones to lower beta-amyloid and tangle burden in the brain.

Dr. Tanzi has published nearly 500 research papers and has received the highest awards in his field, including the Metropolitan Life Foundation Award and Potamkin Prize. Most recently, he received the 2015 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award and was named to the 2015 list of TIME100 Most Influential People in the World.

He co-authored the popular trade books “Decoding Darkness”, New York Times Bestseller, “Super Brain”, and “Super Genes” He was named by GQ magazine as a Rock Star of Science, and in his spare time, has played keyboards with the band Aerosmith, guitarist, Joe Perry, and singer, Chris Mann.