Dear Friends,

I was saddened to hear about the passing of our friend and Part the Cloud supporter Tony Bennett. Tony was a champion of the cause who shared the gift of his beautiful voice to help increase visibility and awareness for the fight to end Alzheimer’s. We were honored to have him perform at the first Part the Cloud event in 2012, setting the tone for the event and performers who would share their talents with us in future years. We extend our heartfelt sympathy and gratitude to his family.

Tony Bennett performing at the 2012 Part the Cloud Gala

Tony’s passing is a heartbreaking reminder that while we have come so far in our fight, we have more work to do.

But, we are seeing hope and progress…

Thankfully, in the last month alone, we have seen historic progress in the Alzheimer’s and dementia research field. New treatments and diagnostics are rapidly becoming a reality. These watershed moments are due to your unwavering support of innovative programs like Part the Cloud – and I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart. This momentum is a testament to our tireless commitment and dedication to advancing high risk, high reward research. And our persistence is paying off.

Here is the latest in Alzheimer’s advancements, including highlights from the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference^® (AAIC^®):

• On July 6, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted traditional approval for Leqembi (lecanemab), an anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies that addresses the underlying biology of the disease, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that they will expand the coverage of FDA traditionally approved treatments.

• The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with a record-breaking 11,000 researchers from 111 countries, both in person and virtually.

• Full Phase 3 data of Eli Lilly’s donanemab were presented at AAIC and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results showed that donanemab significantly slowed cognitive and functional decline in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease, and 47% of people in the earliest stages had no clinical progression for one year.

• Part the Cloud-funded researchers were in attendance at AAIC, presenting updates on their work, including Part the Cloud-funded trials that are ongoing, and holding industry-leading scientific sessions. The speed and momentum in which the field is moving shows us that it is truly an exciting time in research, and Part the Cloud is at the forefront of this scientific revolution in Alzheimer’s. Watch this video to get a snapshot of the energy and hope felt at AAIC23.

• At AAIC, there was news of advancements in CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats), the gene editing tool that is one of the most powerful tools in the search for new drugs. CRISPR has the potential to impact the Alzheimer’s risk gene (APOE-e4), advancing precision medicine in Alzheimer’s disease.

Part the Cloud grantees Michal Schnaider Beeri, Ph.D. (left), Devangere Devanand, M.D. (second from left) and Steve Arnold, M.D. (right)

In addition, three Part the Cloud-funded researchers participated in a special panel discussion for philanthropic supporters who attended AAIC. All said they would not have been able to move their research forward if it wasn’t for the support of Part the Cloud grant funding from the Alzheimer's Association.

Steve Arnold, M.D., is a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and the Chair of Alzheimer's Therapeutic Sciences at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2020 Dr. Arnold received a Part the Cloud grant for a pilot study evaluating whether a tuberculosis vaccination may impact brain inflammation in Alzheimer’s.

Davangere Devanand, M.D., is the co-founder of the Memory Disorders Center at Columbia University Medical Center, where he is a professor of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is also an attending psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and New York Presbyterian Medical Center. In 2020, Dr. Devanand received a Part the Cloud grant for his research study on antiviral treatment in mild cognitive impairment.

Michal Schnaider Beeri, Ph.D., directs the Herbert and Jacqueline Kriegers Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center at Rutgers University Medical School. In 2020 Dr. Schnaider-Beeri received a Part the Cloud grant to support a clinical trial evaluating the safety, tolerability and dose of the dual administration of insulin and another diabetes medication in individuals at risk for dementia.

Where we have come today from where we started more than a decade ago is beyond my wildest dreams. Together, we continue to make a difference in getting therapies to people sooner. I am incredibly grateful for your continued support because there is still so much more to be done. It isn't only scientists who are leading the way to a cure; your support is helping push research forward, too.

Together, we will Part the Cloud.

Mikey Hoag
Founder, Part the Cloud