Gladstone investigator wins MIND Prize to decode hidden Alzheimer’s genetics

The prize, issued annually to eight scientists, seeks to catalyze high-impact neuroscience research by facilitating collaborations across academic, biomedical industry, philanthropic, and business communities.

The 2026 Prize winners each receive $750,000 over three years to support breakthroughs in research on neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and other aging-related dementias, which affect millions of people worldwide.

Revealing genetic drivers

Corces, who joined the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease in 2000, studies how genetic and environmental factors can impact the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases. With funding from the MIND Prize, he will investigate why many families in which multiple members have Alzheimer's disease do not have gene variants, also known as mutations, known to cause this condition.

His project will use artificial intelligence and CRISPR tools to identify and test novel genetic variants that may be present in these families, with the goal of uncovering new drivers and therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's disease.

"If we could pinpoint exactly which genetic variants are driving Alzheimer's, we could better understand who's likely to develop the disease and what's causing it so we could intervene before irreversible neurodegeneration," Corces says. "The MIND Prize will help accelerate this research and bring clarity to more people who have a strong family history of Alzheimer's but no known genetic cause."

A growing global threat

Alzheimer's is the most common degenerative brain disease and the most common cause of dementia. As people live longer, it is becoming more widespread; the number of Americans living with Alzheimer's is expected to reach nearly 13 million by 2050. The socioeconomic cost enormous, and the disease is devastating to patients and their families.

Source:

Gladstone Institutes