About CerebroLab
Neurodegenerative disease represents a vast, urgent, and inefficiently served translational challenge — one that is far more addressable than current clinical pathways reflect.
Though it affects millions, there is currently a wide chasm between research and clinical implementation.
CerebroLab can close this gap by creating an efficient ecosystem where innovative research can connect with patients who seek them, be refined through iterative testing, and ultimately translate into medical breakthroughs.
"Although certain treatments may help relieve some of the physical or mental symptoms associated with neurodegenerative diseases, slowing their progression is not currently possible, and no cures exist."
— National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Our Story —
Why We Created CerebroLab
Eight years ago, I was diagnosed with ALS and given three to five years to live. I discovered that there had been no meaningful clinical advances in ALS treatment since Lou Gehrig's death in 1941. My options were palliative care or experimental trials. Within a year I was in a wheelchair.
Facing a disease with more questions than answers, I had to decide how to spend the time I had left.
I chose to learn. I rejected experimental therapies and instead spent years meeting with specialists across neurology, vascular biology, immunology, endocrinology, orthopedics, and regenerative medicine.
What emerged from those conversations was a striking disconnect: the basic science had advanced enormously, but clinical treatment hadn't kept pace. Therapeutic development remained stubbornly narrow — focused on single molecular targets rather than the complex, multisystem nature of neurodegenerative disease.
The foundational step on this educational journey was meeting Dr. Rudy Tanzi who directs Alzheimer's research at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Tanzi first shared the concept of brain biomechanics. He introduced me to the pioneering research of Dr. Jonathan Kipnis and Dr. Maiken Nedergaard. Their collective work showed that neurodegenerative disease is rarely just a neuron problem, but rather a failure of a larger, neurovascular-glymphatic unit.
CerebroLab is what we built from that realization. It's a platform designed to bring that fragmented research together — and to give patients, clinicians, and researchers the integrative tools the field has been missing.
If progress is to be made in the treatment of neurodegenerative disease, it will be built on what Dr. Tanzi, Dr. Kipnis and Dr. Nedergaard have started. We hope that CerebroLab can serve as a forum for that advancement.
The Founding Team —
Jon Steingart
ALS Patient
Jon Steingart was diagnosed with ALS in 2018. Prior to that, he worked in entertainment. Theater: Ars Nova (Co-Founder). Film: Black Dynamite (Producer). Animation: Ultra Super Pictures (Partner).
Kristi Clay
Clinical Researcher
Kristi Clay is a Clinical Researcher specializing in complex diagnoses.
Caroline Helm
Research Assistant
Caroline Helm is a student at The Brearley School. In 2025 she worked as a research intern for the Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease.
If you are a Neurodegenerative Disease Patient, Clinician, or Researcher and would like to learn more about CerebroLab, please contact us or download the Mobile App to get started.