First amyloid PET data I've seen so far in #DownSyndrome from Brazil (Mantovani et al) - found region-specific inflammation linked to amyloid. Important milestone for global equity in DS- #alzheimers research, exciting implications for future prevention studies that are truly global. bit.ly/3IiLjqQ

As ICE ramps up immigration arrests in MA, it's started holding people in office building near the Burlington Mall. The facility is not designed to be a detention facility. People are sleeping on concrete floors and lack access to sinks for handwashing www.wbur.org/news/2025/06... @wbur.org

This commentary from Maure-Blesa et al. captures the history of #downsyndrome -assoc. #alzheimers disease beautifully. It's been a long journey to get to this point, and there's still a long journey ahead as we push for prevention, but the reason to be hopeful has never been greater! bit.ly/3Hv6qG0

This is a paradigm shift in the way we think about #alzheimers #AD and should be shared widely. #neuroskyence #neuroscience

Bullying students and schools to provoke fear and silence dissent is how we trade democracy and freedom for authoritarianism. This will affect nearly a third of Harvard's students. We cannot be silent.

Really interesting article from Witt, Shaffer, Torres, & Santoro about recruiting diverse groups of people with #downsyndrome for research. Key point: to achieve diversity, you have to intentionally seek out diversity. Science conducted in a vacuum will fail the generalizability test. bit.ly/3H0yNeI

“Department of Government Efficiency.”

The head of our country’s government is in the early stages of consolidating total power. We must of course reject this, but that is not enough. We have to respond by creating a different and better kind of American politics than we have seen before.

Hi, I write about science for STAT. We've been closely tracking the Trump Administration's cuts. And right now, we're speaking to folks whose graduate school/postdoc offers have been rescinded, to get a sense of the toll. If anyone has interest, I'm reachable by DM or by Signal at JasonMast.05

Rümeysa Öztürk should be at home in Somerville celebrating Ramadan with her friends and community.

Trump Administration political operatives manipulating the scientific research process, picking and choosing which communities of patients will and will not get help. What could go wrong?

Want to understand the latest #downsyndrome #alzheimers clinical trials in a way that's accessible and easy to understand? Check out this family- and caregiver-oriented explainer that I helped my foundation put together! bit.ly/4ixNqnz

I just posted a new blog entry on Medium describing a couple of Kate's self-chosen strategies for dealing with the effects of her daily battle with Early Onset Alzheimer's #DownSyndrome #Alzheimers medium.com/@amykolbtuck...

The institutional Democratic Party is guided by an almost pathological level of conflict avoidance in almost every direction. “What can we do to make the least number of people mad?” is just a bankrupt way to operate.

“…dysfunction of the #blood–brain barrier and #inflammation in the central nervous system in individuals with #Down syndrome regression disorder (DSRD).” #DSRD could be an inflammatory condition affecting the brain. bit.ly/4bSbL51 [open access] bit.ly/4kQKCDA

Astonishing in the breadth and depth of harm this proposal would inflict directly on 16 million people across every congressional district in the United States. Then add the ripple effects on the health of others in every community, the economic losses, the societal upheaval.

This is not cutting "waste, fraud, and abuse." Pure and simple, this is undermining the science necessary to deliver better means of preventing, diagnosing, treating, and eventually curing diseases like #Alzheimers, #cancer, #diabetes, #stroke, #glaucoma, etc. #dementia #mentalhealth #NIH #science

Sometimes tragic things in nature reveal how we might improve lives. A new case report shows how extra copies of the APP gene can cause #Alzheimers, just like in #DownSyndrome. This strengthens the case for APP-targeting therapies to delay or prevent DS-associated Alzheimer’s. bit.ly/3X5QcYS (1/5)

Trying to understand the #MAHA calculus on #Alzheimers: An "amyloid cabal" has taken over AD research. Per Alzforum, "black people with dementia are less likely to have amyloid". To move past the cabal's "agenda", we need more diverse Alzheimer's research. But that's... woke? 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 bit.ly/42V4EXe

@petebuttigieg.bsky.social it's obvious that people want structural change in this country, and it's equally obvious that the changes happening now will hurt almost everyone. Why not define and popularize an agenda to structurally reform the country in a way that actually serves the people now?

There is no ‘amyloid cabal’ in #Alzheimers research www.statnews.com/2025/02/14/a... via @statnews.com #dementia #neuroscience #science #NeuroSky

So #RFKjr wants to fire people at the NIH involved in "amyloid plaque scandals that derailed #Alzheimers treatment for 20 years". The horror of a deeply uneducated man leading the #NIH aside, that amyloid research *is* the reason my brother with #downsyndrome has a chance to never get AD in his life

Biopharma companies and CEOs are keeping their heads down at their own peril. They should speak up about what’s happening to the NIH and other science agencies before it’s too late. Silence gives consent. And no one should consent to this.

Less than one month into this administration, and its time to go on the record about how I honestly feel. Simply put, I am disappointed. I'm disappointed in myself, I'm disappointed in my government, I'm disappointed by our politicians, and I'm disappointed by people I respect. (1/6)

About a year back (on LI), I shared four wishes I had for #downsyndrome -associated #alzheimers disease (DS-AD): DS-AD anti-Aß antibody studies, consensus on the staging of DS-AD, blood biomarker tests for DS-AD, and bold action for prevention of DS-AD. Here's the updates going into 2025: (1/6)

Amyloid-ß PET positivity is a key inclusion criteria for #downsyndrome -assoc. #Alzheimers trials. Using a 20 CL inclusion cutoff, Krasny shows 58% of folks with Ds between 40 and 44 years old could be eligible clinical study, and that percentage keeps on increasing with age bit.ly/401DWdq (1/2)

The APP gene is only part of the story of #Downsyndrome associated #Alzheimer's disease. According to Sukreet, Rafii, & Rissman, DS-AD can be thought of as a "vicious cycle of neuropeptide buildup, endosomal dysfunction, and OS due to overexpression of trio genes SOD1, APP, & DYRK1A" bit.ly/4ipEvVD

Why am I so personally hopeful that #Downsyndrome -associated #Alzheimer's disease is preventable? It's because of two case studies of people with Ds, who happened to be born *without* a triplication of their Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) gene and never developed dementia during their lives. (1/5)

Regardless of the debate over whether to say asymptomatic, biomarker positive individuals have "Asymptomatic #Alzheimer's Disease" or are "Asymptomatic *at risk* for AD", both the new AA and new IWG AD criteria name people with #downsyndrome as having presymptomatic AD from birth bit.ly/3OC4yLU

I cannot even begin to imagine the pain inflicted on the thousands of people who put their trust in this company at the most vulnerable moment in their lives. #alzheimers substack.com/home/post/p-...

How do you stage a condition like #alzheimers that is characterized by cognitive impairment in a group of people who already have underlying intellectual disability like #downsyndrome? According to Rodriguez-Hidalgo et al, you build a framework that stratifies criteria by level of ID bit.ly/4fKhriS

Being a sibling of someone with Down syndrome and working on ending Ds-associated Alzheimer's disease means walking a fine line between my role as brother and my role as professional. Read a perspective I wrote about this here: bit.ly/4ePeqN1 #disability #alzheimers #downsyndrome

After Aß PET positivity (typically around 40yo), people with Down syndrome have PET-detectable tau deposition within 2.7 years, MCI diagnosis within 7.4 years, and Dementia diagnosis within 12.7 years on average. Early onset + rapid progression = massive unmet need. #alzheimers #downsyndrome #DSAD

Did you know over 90% of people with Down syndrome will develop Alzheimer's disease in their lifetime? People with Ds are born with three copies of the Amyloid Precursor Protein gene, making it a genetically-determined form of Alzheimer's. #alzheimers #downsyndrome #DSAD