The McCance Center Brain Nutrition Laboratory
Call: 857-282-5197
Email: glbowman@mgh.harvard.edu
Overview
The McCance Center Brain Nutrition Laboratory, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, is an internationally recognized research program focused on three key themes:
- Exploring the nutritional demands of the brain to identify the dietary habits and nutrients essential to promotion of brain health
- Developing personalized tools to prevent age-related cognitive decline and dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease
- Understanding the mechanisms by which nutrients and diet prevent cognitive decline, neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases
Current Research Questions
- What are the specific nutritional requirements for maintaining cognitive health?
- Why do certain diets or supplements benefit some individuals but not others?
- How does genetic background affect dietary recommendations for brain health?
Research Projects
Cohort Studies of Brain Aging
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Apply nutrient biomarker pattern analysis to identify nutrient combinations that display activity upon distinct features of brain health
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Determine which specific features of brain health are associated with each distinct nutrient combination in high-risk populations
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Validate nutrient combinations associated with brain health in different populations
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Clinical Trials Platform
- Novel Therapeutic Nutrition
- Medical Nutrition
- Dietary Guidelines
A new study, ancillary to a three-year clinical trial published in 2024, is exploring the effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) on important blood-based biomarkers of AD, inflammation, and other measures (vascular injury). Plasma samples have been analyzed by the Biomarker Core at Mass General’s Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Research Unit. This study aims to shed light on the mechanisms by which omega-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids slow neuronal integrity breakdown, particularly in those genetically predisposed to developing AD in late life (i.e., APOE4 carriers).
Click here for more information on the original clinical trial
Featured research
Targeted Nutritional Therapies in Aging and Alzheimer’s Dementia
Research Team
Gene L. Bowman, ND, MPH
Clinical Trials Director, McCance Center
With 20 years of expertise in preventive and nutritional neurology, Dr. Bowman’s research focuses on the connections between nutrition, cognitive aging, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Yan Gao, PhD, MS, MPH
Senior Biostatistician, McCance Center
Dr. Gao is Senior Biostatistician with the McCance Center, where she is instrumental in the design of clinical trials to evaluate promising new ways for early risk detection and intervention in Alzheimer's disease.
Publications
View publications here:
Bowman GL - Search Results - PubMed
Open Positions
Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships in Brain Nutrition and Neurology
The McCance Center Brain Nutrition Laboratory periodically offers Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships in Nutrition and Neurology clinical research, including clinical trials for Alzheimer’s prevention.
Ideal candidates will have a doctoral degree (PhD, ND, MD, ScD, or equivalent as defined by the NIH) in fields such as nutritional epidemiology, medicine, epidemiology, or nutritional biochemistry/biology, with experience in human investigations.
Interested applicants should email Dr. Gene Bowman at gbowman@mgh.harvard.edu.