BetterBrain makes brain health accessible to all
We're all about living.
We believe everyone on Earth deserves the opportunity to lead a life filled with meaning, intimacy, adventure, and enjoyment.
Leading a full life your whole life requires a healthy brain.
Yet somehow, the brain is the organ most neglected by our healthcare systems. Inspired by inadequate experiences in our own families, we started BetterBrain to change that.
Who we are
We are a multidisciplinary group of people who want to help others improve their brain health and improve dementia.
We partner with other individuals and groups who believe in our goal to build a community that can support, empower, and learn from itself.
Why we built BetterBrain
Dementia has touched all of our families. We’ve seen first hand the impact dementia has and the standard of care our loved ones received.
It made us angry.
We're a team of nerds who love to read science, and the science shows there are solutions that can help significantly improve peoples' lives.
We built BetterBrain to make them available to everyone.
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"In 2017, curiosity led me to take a 23andMe test. As a lifelong health optimizer, I was shocked to discover I carry one copy of the APOE4 gene, which increases my risk for developing Alzheimer's Disease by 2-3 times. In a panic, I bought test kits for my entire family, and the results shook my world: 4 of out 5 of us had at least one copy of this gene. This revelation propelled me into a mission to learn everything I could about preventing this disease – including thousands of hours of research, conversations with the world's top specialists, and frequenting the top Dementia Prevention Clinics. What I learned was too powerful not to be shared with the world, which led me to BetterBrain."
Cedric Gousseau
Co-founder @ BetterBrain
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"I co-founded BetterBrain to honor my late mother-in-law, Becky Morgan, who battled Alzheimer’s for years before passing in 2023. She and her family were given outdated and often incorrect guidance at every stage of their journey. I remain outraged and am motivated to help every person on earth get access to the best science has to offer."
Tom Latkovic
Co-founder @ BetterBrain
Our Vision & Mission
Our Vision
Create a world where dementia is considered an orphan disease.
We are at an inflection point in dementia prevention and treatment innovation. We firmly believe that with the tools that already exist and ones that continue to emerge, the continued existence of this disease would be nothing short of a tragedy.
Our Mission
Empower every person to take charge of their brain health so they can live a full life, their whole life.
We seek to impact millions of lives directly through our services and indirectly by catalyzing a cycle of innovation and adoption in brain health across the healthcare community.
Our Values
Lead with
empathy
empathy
We are privileged to be entrusted by people with their most important organ. When faced with a difficult decision, we always do what’s best for people’s lives.
Challenge the
status quo
status quo
Our healthcare system is broken — we must challenge/forget everything we've learned. By taking a beginner's mindset, we will rebuild a system in a way that actually works.
Relentlessly
pursue excellence
pursue excellence
Solving Alzheimer's may be one of the most difficult challenges of our time. This means charging fast at hard problems and not stopping until we achieve our very high bar.
Stay curious,
stay humble
stay humble
The field of brain health is moving at an incredible pace. We are quick to admit when we don't know something and we continuously update our perspective as the science evolves.
Our people
Co-founder
Tom Latkovic
Tom has spent his career using technology to improve health. Over 20 years at McKinsey, he co-founded the McKinsey Health Institute, co-founded McKinsey’s AI practice, led its payor practice, and served as global co-leader of technology solutions. He worked with large health care providers and public health offices to develop and launch digital health solutions focused on brain health.
He was the lead author of the most widely read McKinsey paper in 2022, “Adding years to life and life to years” as well as “The secret to great health? Escaping the healthcare matrix”
Tom serves as Vice Chair of Mercy Ships International, which operates the largest non-governmental hospital ships in the world benefiting 2.5 mm beneficiaries. He is also co-founder of Backrs, a social mobility and workforce development platform.
Tom, a recent empty-nester, enjoys adventures with his wife Kim, hiking in the mountains, skippering boats, playing and writing music, global affairs, and anything related to nutrition, fitness, and feelings.
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Co-founder
Cedric Gousseau
Cedric’s career and experiences led him to pursue his life mission of eradicating Alzheimer’s Disease. Previously, he was an Associate Partner at McKinsey where he helped lead the virtual health practice and the McKinsey Health Institute. Most of his time was spent helping payors, providers, and health tech companies leverage technology to drive better patient outcomes. He also interned with Peter Attia in the development of his premium digital product, Early.
He discovered his family’s genetic risk for Alzheimer’s in 2017, which sparked a decade long passion for applying cutting edge science and technology to improve brain health. In 2019, he won the MIT Healthcare Hackathon pitching a dementia prevention startup.
Cedric is a credentialed actuary (ASA), which was his first foray into the mathematics of longevity. In his free time, he enjoys sports (skiing, squash, rock climbing, ultimate frisbee, cycling, hockey, tennis, surfing, disc golf, slaloming, kiteboarding), fitness, travel, piano, and Russian saunas.
Brain Health Expert
Courtney Giles, BSN RN
Courtney has dedicated her education and career to various facets of the healthcare system. She earned her degrees in neuroscience and behavioral biology (BS) and nursing (BSN) from Emory University. She advanced to charge nurse at Emory's neurosurgical ICU and later served as a frontline nurse during the pandemic in a rural COVID-19 ICU. Transitioning to proactive patient care, Courtney became a nurse program coordinator at the Mayo Clinic's neurology practice, where he focused on the comprehensive stroke program and Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics Clinic.
As she pursues her MBA at Vanderbilt University with an emphasis on healthcare and operations, Courtney is committed to disease prevention and is determined to push the boundaries of healthcare innovation to improve lives.
In her free time, Courtney is an avid yogi (holding a 200-hour YTT certification), runner, hiker, stand-up paddleboarder, and occasional crossfitter. She treasures her time with her husband Jay and their cat Beau. When not staying active, Courtney enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, and crocheting.
Brain Health Expert
Wendy Pietri, BSN RN
Wendy is a dedicated Brain Health Coach who combines her nursing background with a passion for cognitive well-being. Her journey into brain health was profoundly influenced by personal family experiences, particularly witnessing her mother's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. These experiences ignited her commitment to helping others achieve optimal brain health and sparked a career dedicated to making a positive impact on individuals and their families.
Wendy's professional journey began with her training as a Registered Nurse, where she earned bachelors degrees in both Biology and Nursing from the University of Tennessee. Additionally, She pursued advanced certifications in brain health and wellness coaching. Her nursing background and personal experience with dementia equips her with a unique perspective, allowing her to integrate medical insights with holistic, personalized coaching strategies.
In her personal life, Wendy is a wife and proud mom to three grown children. She enjoys playing pickleball, weightlifting, sauna, nutrition, walking, and travel. She is eager and excited to share what she has learned with others.
Head of Engineering
Aditya Mookerjee
Aditya has over 10 years of experience in engineering and engineering leadership, having built several large-scale healthcare software platforms. He has contributed his expertise as a software engineer in the medical device industry building Continuous Glucose Monitors, in the Electronic Medical Records industry working on Telehealth and payments platforms, and at Curative where he developed systems powering 15% of U.S. COVID-19 tests and a health insurance business.
Aditya holds a Bioengineering degree from Lehigh University and a Master's in Bioengineering and Computer Science from UCLA, where he focused on applied machine learning in health domains. Recently relocated to Boulder, Colorado, from San Diego, California, Aditya enjoys surfing, gym workouts, hiking, kayaking, walking his two dogs (a German Shepherd and a Labrador Retriever), and sauna and ice bath sessions.
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Founding Engineer
Harshel Bahl
Harshel's academic training has fueled his interest in the HealthTech industry, with a particular focus on the complexities of Alzheimer’s disease. He is passionate about improving the prevention landscape for at-risk individuals.
Harshel holds a first-class BSc in Physics with Medical Physics from University College London and an MS in Biomedical Informatics from Harvard Medical School. His interest in Alzheimer’s disease began at Harvard, where he developed a deep-learning-based classification model for Alzheimer’s disease states using brain MRIs. Additionally, he has conducted research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute on cancer genomics and at University College London on image registration.
Alongside his academic pursuits, Harshel has extensive software engineering experience through personal projects and internships. This experience enabled him to build the initial beta platform for BetterBrain.
Outside of his professional pursuits, Harshel enjoys reading about new science and technology, cooking, running, music, grand-tour-style road trips, and coding for fun.
Head of Product
Yan Oczkowicz
Yan has spent his education and career exploring different aspects of the healthcare system. He worked for 3 years in a tissue engineering lab designing bioreactors to grow whole lungs from stem cells. He later moved to McKinsey & Company for 4 years, working as a Specialist in the healthcare practice. His projects focused on building new business units and products to improve the quality, accessibility, and affordability of healthcare.
Yan was preparing for physician training at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine when he quit to help start BetterBrain, where he leads product development. He’s excited to finally have found a role that combines his passions for patient care, nerdy tech, and wide-scale impact.
Yan holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Yale University. In his free time, he enjoys exploring mountain ranges on foot and on skis.
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Growth
Tricia Mangan
Tricia is a US Alpine ski racer and 2-time Olympian currently competing on the FIS Audi World Cup speed circuit. She graduated in 2021 from Dartmouth College with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Her pursuit of excellence as a professional athlete has fueled her interest in optimizing mental and physical performance, both in her own life and in helping others become the healthiest and happiest versions of themselves.
Throughout her athletic, academic, and career pursuits, Tricia has taken an unconventional path, constantly pushing against traditional boundaries. Her belief that questioning the norm leads to innovation and progress fuels her excitement and passion for BetterBrain's potential to revolutionize dementia prevention.
Beyond her athletic and career pursuits, Tricia loves reading (especially biographies and WWII history), filmmaking, naps, and spending time outside learning new things with friends and her five siblings.