As the G-20 Health Ministers meeting takes place next week in Johannesburg, South Africa, a new global coalition is trying to put Alzheimer’s and dementia-related diseases on the priority list of the world’s major economies; and there’s one man who stands out as a driving force behind this movement. 

In his video “Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy,” Derek Sivers demonstrates that one person dancing alone on the side of a hill—no matter how creative or talented they are—is not enough to create a movement. But when a second person joins in, dancing alongside the first, a movement begins to take shape. That’s when people start to say, “This is an idea worth joining.”

The real art, Sivers says, is recruiting that second person.

In the world of Alzheimer’s advocacy, that contagious “dancer” is George Vradenburg. Widely regarded as a global Alzheimer’s ambassador, Vradenburg has brought together leading scientific stakeholders, prestige investors from Silicon Valley to Goldman Sachs, and philanthropists —from red-state Texas to the G7 and G20. He has worked to link and scale efforts around the world to address what is fast becoming the globe’s most extensive and most expensive health epidemic: the brain health crisis.

“George Vradenburg has been a tremendous leader in advancing Alzheimer’s research not only in America but internationally,” said U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R‑Maine). “He recognizes that we cannot let Alzheimer’s be one of the defining diseases of our children’s generation as it has been for ours.”

Vradenburg and the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC), which he founded, work across high-, middle-, and low-income countries to collect data and drive innovation around brain health.

A life-course disease

After years of exploration, Vradenburg’s message is all about embracing the fact that Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are life-course diseases, as compared to something that is suddenly and surprisingly diagnosed at age 65. It’s shaped by maternal health, education, nutrition, lifestyles, environments — and all the other factors contributing to healthy development from the womb to midlife and beyond.

It’s also linked to mental and cardiovascular health. Risks to these are also precursors to Alzheimer’s.

As a result, DAC has gradually expanded its focus to encompass the wide range of issues driving overall brain health. Vradenburg’s legacy, now 82, may be that the world comes to understand this broader view.

In January, DAC hosted its first “Brain House” series at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland; it was at the WEF in Davos in 2020 that DAC was first launched just as COVID was closing in on the world.

Following that three-day event, the Davos ‘Brain House’ model embarked on a globe-trotting series around the world. It has brought together scientists and experts from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, with philanthropists, politicians and business leaders in an effort to build a global movement.

A new U.S. ‘brain capital’

The first stop was Houston. In May, Business Collaborative for Brain Health catalyzed the powerful Texas medical research community as well as the leading political and business personalities at the second event in the ‘Brain House’ series in Houston, home to the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world. In May, it brought together stakeholders on the sidelines of the G7 meetings of health and finance ministers in Canada. The initiative now heads to South Africa next week.

Government cuts under the Trump administration left a mark on the American healthcare landscape. Health research funding priorities have continued to shift, especially in red states, where support for Trump remains strong. Yet despite the political headwinds, Vradenburg’s success in co-organizing a high-level conference in Texas (May 21-22)  was met by equal amounts of enthusiasm among the state’s political and business elite.

The economic as well as social problems associated with Alzheimer’s and dementia are undeniable, as Vradenburg pointed out in Houston and everywhere else he goes: “Increasing brain disorders around the world are increasing costs — social costs and economic — to governments around the world, and so governments are now being motivated actually to invest in the solution.”

At the Texas event, titled “Brain Capital: The New Competitive Edge in a Shifting Economy,” state officials elaborated on the proposal to establish the Dementia Prevention Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT). This $3 billion initiative, championed by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, will go before voters in November. The institute would channel new investments into research on the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, while also advancing efforts to prevent them before symptoms begin.

Brain-related conditions make up roughly one-third of Texas’s total disease burden. Research presented at the summit suggested that improving brain health could boost the state’s GDP by as much as $260 billion. The findings are the result of a joint modeling exercise by the Business Collaborative for Brain Health and McKinsey Health Institute.

In an interview with the Houston Business Journal, Vradenburg drew a direct comparison to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), which since its founding in 2007 has become the nation’s second largest public funder of cancer research after the National Institutes of Health Cancer Institute.

“Royalty flies in from around the world to go to MD Anderson,” Vradenburg said, referring to the University of Texas cancer center that is CPRIT’s flagship. “Imagine if you had that for brain health.”

Improving workforce productivity

The Texas meeting concluded with a set of policy recommendations aimed at strengthening brain health research systems. The following month, those recommendations were carried forward to a side event in Calgary on the margins of the G7 series of meetings over May and June hosted by Canada in the province of Alberta.

The Canada Brain Economy Summit focused on how the world’s most advanced economies are neglecting brain health as one of their most valuable assets. A “Brain Economy Declaration” asserted that brain capital is the missing link – and the reason for sluggish productivity, labor market strain, and other threats to long-term economic resilience.

The declaration calls on G7 leaders to adopt a policy roadmap for brain health through the 2026 G7 Leaders’ Summit in France – tasking health and finance ministers with jointly crafting a national strategy that integrates policy and investment in brain health. The recommendations also call for the formation of G7+ working groups to share scalable solutions and build partnerships across countries.

Said Vradenburg at the Calgary event: “No nation can afford to ignore the multi-trillion-dollar cost of unaddressed brain disorders. This is higher than the annual GDP of Germany, France, Italy, and the UK combined. The G7 has a unique opportunity to solve this crisis, joining the private sector and civil society to create a global brain economy.”

“Governments are treating human brain health as an economic cost, not as an asset that can be harnessed for significant competitive and societal advantage,” added Jennie Z. Young, executive director of the Canadian Brain Research Strategy. “There is momentum across all sectors in Canada and other nations. But without G7 leadership, we won’t unlock the full economic potential that can be harnessed by investing in brain capital initiatives.”

It’s hoped that the 2026 G7, hosted by France, will yield a formal declaration on brain health, in a drive led by European institutions such as the Paris Brain Institute. The Brain Institute gathers more than 700 researchers and clinicians in 1000 m2 of space dedicated to start-up incubation.

“Momentum is already building toward a brain economy that puts brain health and brain skills at the core of economic growth and societal resilience,” observed Erica Coe, executive director of McKinsey Health Institute, in an interview with Health Policy Watch. “As AI reshapes the world, thriving will require us to nurture the skills that remain uniquely human, like creativity, critical thinking, and adaptability. This is about more than health—it’s about unlocking human potential at scale.”

Accelerating the push for international cooperation

Then in September, stakeholders gathered yet again in New York City at a three-day event hosted by the European Brain Council (EBC) on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly’s High Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases.

“The future of brain health depends on international cooperation,” said Frédéric Destrebecq, EBC executive director at the event, sponsored by the Global Brain Coalition. “We are bringing together voices from science, policy, civil society, and industry to shape a global response to one of the century’s greatest health challenges.”

In the UNGA High Level Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases, promoting better prevention and treatment of NCDs, dementia is officially recognized by UN member states as a major noncommunicable disease for the first time ever.

The draft declaration was supposed to be approved at September’s High Level Meeting (HLM)  after receiving overwhelming support from most UN member states – but a last minute United States move blocked its consensus approval. It will now go before the General Assembly for a formal vote, later in this year’s session.

Despite the technical delays, the UN’s recognition of dementia as a leading noncommunicable disease will be “a historic step forward for hundreds of millions of families worldwide,” Vradenburg asserted, shortly after the HLM event. “Brain health costs are a major challenge to nations worldwide and thus demand a global response.”

Next stop G20, South Africa

Next Tuesday, on 4 November, DAC will hold yet another brain health side event – this time in Johannesburg on the margins of the G20 Health Ministerial and G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministerial Meetings. This comes just ahead of the G20 Summit, 22-23 November.

The day-long G20 side event features a lineup of prominent brain health researchers from institutions in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, and Egypt, as well as globally.

It will also showcase recommendations from the recent Nature Medicine publication, “Strengthening Africa’s Brain Health and Economic Resilience,” co-authored by over two dozen experts from around the world, led by University College London and DAC.

The Nature report presents a ‘6×5 Plan’ to prepare Africa for a demographic transition to an older population, including a framework for globally scalable strategies to address brain health from early childhood and across the life cycle — including through education, better workforce health, and more digital innovation.  It’s based on projections that in Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of adults over the age of 60 will triple by 2050, from 69 million in 2017 to around 226 million. 

Insights from the Texas, G7 and G20-based discussions will inform the next round of World Economic Forum (WEF) Brain Economy Action Forum and contribute to a special report slated for release at the January 2026 WEF Annual Meeting in Davos. That meeting will also unveil a long-awaited global roadmap for building the brain economy.

From Texas to Africa – putting brain health on the map

From Texas to Johannesburg, this year’s events are already part of a carefully planned strategy laid out by Vradenburg and other key DAC movers and shakers to plant the seeds of a global movement to make brain health a top public health priority.

And there’s a good reason to do so.

Today, more than 55 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and that number is expected to soar to 152 million by 2050. Current data ranks Alzheimer’s as the seventh leading cause of death worldwide.

Beyond the human toll, brain-related conditions are costing the global economy more than $1 trillion each year in lost productivity. By 2030, that figure is projected to skyrocket to nearly $16 trillion.

Roughly 60% of people living with dementia reside in low- and middle-income countries. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, an estimated 2.13 million people were affected as of 2015. That number is projected to reach 7.62 million by 2050 on the continent. It’s no different in the world’s richest country either.

“Alzheimer’s disease is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time,” Senator Collins  told Health Policy Watch. “Nearly 7 million Americans are living with the disease, and that number is soaring as our overall population grows older and lives longer. It touches so many families, including my own, and it is devastating not only emotionally but also economically.”

From business leader to global health advocate

Vradenburg’s own family history is also part of the DAC story – and what transformed him from a successful corporate lawyer for big media outfits like Fox, AOL, and CBS into global health advocate, beginning nearly two decades ago.

His late wife’s grandmother died of senility, “which is what they called it back in the day,” he recalled in an interview with Health Policy Watch. His late wife’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and experienced chronic hallucinations as her health declined prior to her death in 1992, which is likely what shook Vradenburg most. So he and his wife, Trish, an author, playwright and journalist, had already become deeply involved in the battle against Alzheimer’s in 2005, and long before Trish’s sudden death from cardiac arrest in mid-April, 2017.

“It is quite clear that there is a familial or genetic risk factor,” Vradenburg says of the family history. His brother-in-law was also living with an advanced stage of the disease until his death in 2024. “If we don’t move faster against this disease over the next 45 years than we have in the last 45 years, it won’t be just my kids — it will be my grandchildren. It’s just intolerable to me to sit here and see what’s happened to my family and not do anything about it. You can get angry, but it’s better to turn that anger into action.”

Still, he emphasizes that his efforts soon went far beyond the personal domain.

“I’m working for the millions of other people around the world who are experiencing the same thing, too,” he said.

Vradenburg first raised the idea of focusing on brain health in 2006 with Republican lawmaker Newt Gingrich, who understood that “this was going to be the sinkhole of the 21st century. And that if we weren’t to get at it, prevent it, or slow it, it would bankrupt America,” Vradenburg related.

Gingrich went on to lead a study group that, over two years, produced a recommendation for a national strategic plan. That plan was later updated and adopted on January 4, 2011, when President Barack Obama signed into law the National Alzheimer’s Project Act.

As a result, national spending on Alzheimer’s research has jumped from $400 million to $3.8 billion annually.

In 2011, Vradenburg helped launch the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s. A year later, he and Trish co-founded Us against Alzheimer’s, the seedling of DAC. By 2019, Alzheimer’s was finally moving into the global health agenda, and cited at that year’s World Economic Forum as a challenge on par with infectious diseases. At the 2020 WEF, the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) was officially launched, beginning full operations in 2021.

“So, I’ve turned from a lawyer to a patient advocate,” Vradenburg said in an interview.

New Alzheimer’s drugs and diagnostics

The rising chorus of political, public and civil society advocacy around Alzheimer’s and other dementia-related diseases has already helped spur the development of several new drugs; including two new recently-approved treatments for early-phase Alzheimer’s, donanemab  and lecanemab, which help slow disease progression. A vaccine is also under development, with more than half a dozen companies currently testing candidates in early-stage clinical trials.

At the same time, new diagnostic tools are being evaluated to catch Alzheimer’s earlier and more affordably. The goal is to move beyond costly PET scans and MRIs to a simple, widely accessible blood test.

Through partnerships with health systems in over 20 countries, DAC has supported the strengthening of diagnostic capabilities as well as research to improve early, accurate detection.  An Early Detection Blueprint offering health systems recommendations for planning and implementing programmes that monitor cognitive impairment is now a go-to global resource. Collaborations across 14 countries are supporting the improved deployment of related diagnostic tools.  Another multi-country Global Cohorts research initiative is underway to better understand the disease and its progression amongst diverse populations and settings.

Along with affluent nations, developing countries are also stepping up to the challenge now. India recently announced the launch of the world’s most extensive brain health action plan. The initiative includes a network of brain health clinics providing holistic care for individuals suffering from neurological disorders or at risk of developing such disorders.

Kenya has emerged as another pathfinder in the fight against Alzheimer’s, spearheading a five-year national strategy that includes six major initiatives to strengthen investment in brain health. The plan addresses long-overlooked gaps in the system and reflects a broader recognition of the country’s rising health priorities.

Meanwhile, the European Union announced a Youth Mental Health Plan and created the European Partnership for Brain Health. Member states jointly committed funding to build a continent-wide neuroscience ecosystem, with a budget of approximately €500 million.

Orchestrating a global movement

While Vradenburg doesn’t claim a lot of credit for himself, his colleagues and peers attribute his methodical and lawyer-like guidance for building an organisation that can leverage significant political attention – and help change the conversation around how Alzheimer’s, dementia and related brain health issues are approached.

From influencing policy in Texas to the G7, G20 and UN agendas, the aim is to reframe Alzheimer’s as not just a personal or medical research issue, but as an economic, social, and policy challenge. An issue that crosses the lines of bitterly divided societies, including rich and poor countries in the global north and south, it is a rare unifier in an era of global and regional discord.

“He puts a lot of his own personal wealth into this, and he works harder than anyone I know,” said Drew Holzapfel, chief operating officer of DAC. “I always tell people I can’t imagine trying to keep up with him earlier in his career — because he’s absolutely tireless in pursuing this goal. In addition to investing his own money, he also puts his personal connections into it, creating a network of people who might not otherwise be involved.

“George would be the first to say he can’t take credit for everything, because it takes a lot of people to accomplish what’s been done. But in my mind, he’s absolutely been a central figure in it all,” added Holzapfel.

And at the age of 82, Vradenburg is still pushing the world to move faster, think bigger, and act smarter, proving that one man, driven by personal challenges, can change the course of global health.

“Coupled with the decline in global productivity and the rise of AI, investment in human intelligence and brain capital is critical to the material well-being of people everywhere,” he declares. “DAC intends to help lead the advance.”

Image Credits: Courtesy, Gabin Vallet, Daniel Kraft/DAC, DAC , Hotchkiss Brain Institute , E. Fletcher/HP Watch , DAC, Worldlifeexpetancy.com, The Washingtonian, DAC/Martin et al, 2019, DAC .