$50M PROGRAM

care

Worldwide, someone develops Alzheimer’s disease every 3.2 seconds. Two-thirds of all Alzheimer’s patients are women.

CARE: Cutting Alzheimer’s Risk through Endocrinology, is a new $50 million program focused on the intersection of neuroendocrine risks and neurodegeneration to cut Alzheimer’s risk for women in half.

CARE aims to cut the lifetime risk of Alzheimer’s among women in half, reducing risk for 330M women globally.

The lifetime risk of Alzheimer’s for a 45-year-old woman is 1 in 5, compared to 1 in 10 for men. This disparity has been linked to neuroendocrine aging, particularly the withdrawal of neuroprotective hormones like estrogen after menopause. Yet current predictive models fail to capture these female-specific risks, leaving a critical gap in prevention strategies.

“ For too long, research has failed to address women’s higher lifetime risk of Alzheimer’s disease. We have the tools. Now is the time. We aim to deliver new solutions tailored to women’s unique biology. We owe women centuries of research. ”

— Lisa Mosconi, CARE Program Director and author of The Menopause Brain

CARE seeks to close this gap. By focusing on female-specific neuroendocrine risks, CARE will develop the largest, data-driven predictive model of Alzheimer’s risk for women, starting in midlife, when the potential for disease prevention is greatest. Leveraging advanced neuroimaging, blood-based biomarkers, machine learning, and neuroendocrine therapies, CARE will deliver precision prevention strategies that halve Alzheimer’s risk for women before symptoms emerge.

“ Alzheimer’s is a disease of midlife, not old age—and women bear the greatest burden. CARE is focused on women, beginning with the neuroendocrine changes of menopause, when the potential for preventing Alzheimer’s is greatest. ”

— Regina E. Dugan, President & CEO of Wellcome Leap

Program Director.

Lisa Mosconi, PhD, is a neuroscientist specializing in the early detection and risk reduction of Alzheimer’s disease, with a strong focus on women’s brain health. She is the founder and director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program and the Women’s Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medicine/ NY-Presbyterian, where she serves as an associate professor of Neuroscience in Neurology and Radiology. She earned her PhD in Neuroscience and Nuclear Medicine / Molecular Imaging from the University of Florence, Italy, with a research fellowship at New York University School of Medicine.

Send inquiries to care@wellcomeleap.org

Further details.

To learn more about the program history, performer teams, and process, please visit the Program Details Page.