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Alzheimer’s Disease

Unlocking the mysteries of this mind-robbing disease affecting more than 55 million people worldwide

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive form of dementia that affects people’s memory, thinking, and behavior.

Scientists don’t currently know exactly what causes Alzheimer’s or how it progresses, and there is no cure.

At the Allen Institute, our scientists are studying the human brain with unprecedented detail and clarity – putting a cellular face on the phenomenology of this devastating disease. By better understanding how Alzheimer’s starts and progresses, we can learn ways to treat and cure it.

The breakthroughs we power get us closer to new treatments that can slow or reverse Alzheimer’s devastating march through the brain.

Alzheimer's disease samples from human brain donors.

UMAP figure depicting data from the Seattle Alzheimer's Disease Brain Cell Atlas (SEA-AD) consortium.
UMAP is from the Seattle Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Cell Atlas (SEA-AD) consortium.

Seattle Alzheimer’s Disease Brain Cell Atlas

The Seattle Alzheimer’s Disease (SEA-AD) Brain Cell Atlas, led by the Allen Institute, fuels understanding of the cellular and molecular changes that underlie Alzheimer’s—how it starts, and how it progresses in the human brain. Data and resources related to this atlas are openly available to the scientific community to accelerate progress towards treatments and, one day, a cure.

ACCESS ALZHEIMER’S DATA

Science Programs at Allen Institute