Nasal Vaccine for Alzheimer’s Disease Enters Clinical Trial

In November 2021, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston launched the first human trial of a nasal vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease. Nearly 20 years of research went into developing the vaccine, which uses the immune system to clear Alzheimer’s disease-related proteins from the brain. Lead researcher Dr. Howard Weiner joins the podcast to discuss the science behind the vaccine and how it could introduce new ways of treating other neurodegenerative diseases in the future.

Guest: Howard Weiner, MD, professor of neurology, Harvard Medical School, co-director, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Episode Topics

How does the vaccine work?

Why would a vaccine be a potentially better approach to treatment than a monoclonal antibody?

Do you think a vaccine could ever be used for prevention reasons instead of treatment?

Why a nasal vaccine versus into the muscle, like the COVID vaccine or flu vaccine?

Show Notes

Learn more about Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s nasal vaccine trial at their press release.

For those interested in participating in the study, you can call the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital at 617-723-5588 or email protollinstudy@bwh.harvard.edu.

Watch Dr. Weiner’s film, What is Life?, The Movie, on YouTube.

Learn more about Dr. Weiner’s film, Abe and Phil’s Last Poker Game, on IMDb.