About Us

The Brain Health Initiative (BHI), Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that uses a cutting-edge, new approach to studying brain health that’s set to revolutionize neuroscience research and position brain healthy communities as global leaders in scientific innovation.

Formed in 2020 and headquartered in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, the BHI is a collaborative effort that was launched with Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital. Brain health clinicians, researchers, academics, and innovators from across the Harvard system and throughout the state of Florida, as well as national and global collaborators, are engaged in this collective impact effort to support significant positive brain health and performance outcomes around the world.

A healthy and optimally performing brain is about all of us across the lifespan and is essential for living a long and fulfilling life. Unfortunately, one out of three Americans will be affected by brain illness during the course of their lifetime. By 2030, the World Health Organization estimates that half of the worldwide economic impact of disability will be due specifically to brain-related disability.

Although human life expectancy has increased significantly in recent decades (in the developed world, the number of adults over 65 has surpassed the number of children under 15), data indicates that this extension of lifespan does not correlate well with the extension of a healthy lifespan. As the elderly population is projected to nearly double that of the young by 2050, longitudinal brain health research is urgently needed.

Improving brain health and optimizing performance across the lifespan and reducing risk factors for cognitive decline and brain disease may be the most important health priority of the 21st century, similar to the priority of heart health in the 20th century – which is why the BHI has designed a novel strategy to impact lifelong change at the local, national, and global level.

The mission of the BHI is to:

• Increase brain health and performance outcomes across the lifespan at the individual and community level.
• Create a brain healthy living laboratory using a collective impact approach that improves brain health outcomes across the lifespan – with an adaptive framework that can be replicated to support unique local needs.
• Generate discoveries needed to increase brain health outcomes globally.
• Establish infrastructure and platforms that will elevate brain healthy communities as the “go to” places for brain health scientists, clinicians, and innovators working across multiple disciplines.
• Promote and build brain healthy communities as scientific leaders in brain health discovery and innovation throughout the region, state, nation, and world.

The BHI will achieve its mission by:

• Creating brain healthy communities, and culture, through a collective impact prototype that can be adapted to address unique local needs.
• Launching the Brain Health Initiative Longitudinal Study, a multi-generational, community-based, epidemiological, longitudinal research study that will follow residents, visitors, and workforce for decades in order to identify factors associated with brain health and performance across the lifespan.
• Initiating a community-based brain health living laboratory, the Brain Health Innovation Accelerator: a multidisciplinary community of global clinical researchers, clinicians, engineers (e.g., bio-medical, artificial intelligence, robotics) innovators, investors, and entrepreneurs who will propose, financially support, and execute studies designed to validate and conduct feasibility research on cutting-edge interventions (e.g., neurotechnology, pharmaceutical, supplements) and lifestyle interventions (e.g., sleep, physical activity, nutrition, stress resilience, cognitive stimulation, social engagement, etc.) related to brain health promotion, prevention, early identification, evidence-based intervention, and performance optimization across the lifespan.

The BHI features three core components: its overarching collective impact framework, longitudinal epidemiological research, and a living laboratory where science and innovation can be validated through clinical trials and studied for feasibility. In a novel departure from existing research, the BHI will focus across the lifespan on brain health promotion, prevention, early identification, evidence-based intervention, and performance optimization by bringing science and innovation into the region where residents, workforce, and visitors live, work, learn, and play. Abandoning the sterile environment of a traditional laboratory, this approach was designed in mindful appreciation of the complex and deeply personal factors that impact all aspects of brain health.

Instead of simply learning about the community, the BHI aspires to learn with it.

Located just outside of Sarasota, Florida, Lakewood Ranch is currently the second best-selling planned community in the United States. A planned community is purpose-built. Unlike other communities, where construction occurs more spontaneously, a planned community is built from undeveloped land so as to be organized in a deliberate way.

Lakewood Ranch is a 31,000-acre planned community, home to more than 30,000 residents in more than 20 villages. The community was established in 1994 and today consists of homes, neighborhoods, businesses, shopping centers, various amenities, schools, parks and open spaces.

Lakewood Ranch was designed with a multigenerational community in mind. As such, residents live in apartments, senior living facilities, and detached family homes. Lakewood Ranch is also home to 1,383 businesses employing more than 15,000 employees in diverse fields, including finance and insurance, healthcare, retail, professional/technology, and construction. There are also numerous public and private schools – elementary through college. The nine college campuses include medical, pharmacy, and dental schools. There are more than 15 places of worship in Lakewood Ranch, along with several beginning congregations. Lakewood Ranch is also home to the Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, a 120-bed hospital that opened in the fall of 2004.

As the largest green planned community in the nation, nearly 60% of the community’s acreage is open space. Lakewood Ranch is particularly committed to providing a healthy and environmentally responsible place for residents of all ages to live, work, and play.

With its large, multi-generational community and diverse on-site resources to support the health and well-being of its residents, Lakewood Ranch is the ideal setting for a ground-breaking study of brain health and performance.

Before selecting the Florida Suncoast region for the BHI, we asked ourselves:

Is there a brain health crisis in the region?

The data responded with a resounding: Yes.

Next, we took inventory of what we knew:

• The global brain health crisis is complex.
• No one actor can solve the problem alone.
• There are gaps and silos in the system.
• A lack of coordination exists among actors.
• There is an urgent need for innovation and new solutions.
• Multiple sectors are needed to work together to address the brain health crisis.
• All end-users in the system are affected by brain health, and the majority are affected by brain illness.

With that understanding in mind, we then asked ourselves if there were multiple actors in the system who could influence brain health outcomes across the lifespan throughout the Suncoast region.

The answer again was a clear and definitive: Yes.

Lastly, we considered whether the Florida Suncoast was ready for cross-sector collaboration.

• Are there influential champions who can provide local leadership?
• Do financial resources exist to support collaboration for at least 24 months?
• Is there a history of collaboration in the local community?
• Is there perceived urgency for change on this issue?

Affirmative answers to every inquiry made our decision an easy one. After evaluating multiple regions throughout North America, the Florida Suncoast was selected, as it is an ideal place to create, promote, and advance brain health research, innovation, and outcomes.