Drs. Rudy Tanzi and Doo Yeon Kim Receive Smithsonian Ingenuity Award

Posted December 10, 2015

Cure Alzheimer’s Fund is thrilled to extend our congratulations to the chair of our Research Consortium, Dr. Rudy Tanzi, and to Dr. Doo Yeon Kim, for receiving the prestigious Smithsonian Magazine American Ingenuity Award.

The award recognizes “revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, education and social progress.” Drs. Tanzi and Kim received the award in the category of Natural Sciences for their development of “Alzheimer’s in a Dish”, a Petri dish with human brain cells that develop the telltale structures of Alzheimer’s disease.

Read the Smithsonian’s article about the award

Funded by a grant from Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, Drs. Tanzi and Kim successfully developed Alzheimer’s in a Dish in the fall of 2014. The breakthrough was published in the journal Nature and was also featured in an article in the New York Times, which called it a “game-changer” in the field of Alzheimer’s research. Drs. Tanzi and Kim are now working with Cure Alzheimer’s Fund on an initiative that will screen virtually every FDA-approved drug available to test efficacy against Alzheimer’s.

We are proud of the research being conducted by Drs. Tanzi and Kim. The success of Alzheimer’s in a Dish demonstrates that they truly are innovators making an impact in their field and further validates our approach of funding the best scientists with groundbreaking ideas.