Virtual Conference Update

As the impacts of COVID-19 continue, we have taken the decision to go virtual with the 2nd Targeting Therapy of Alzheimer’s and Related Neurodegenerative Diseases conference. The meeting will now have a three day program starting on 1st November and will conclude 3rd November 2021.

Our virtual website will launch in May 2021. If you are interested in joining us, please register your interest here. Our team will notify you when registration opens and keep you updated with forthcoming deadlines and grant opportunities.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, FTS and ALS affect over 5 million people in the US and over 35 million people worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common age-dependent neurodegenerative disease and currently, only four drugs are approved for alleviating symptoms in AD patients, with no new therapies approved by FDA since 2003. Other related neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are also age-dependent and lack effective therapies. Hence, finding cures for AD and other related neurodegenerative diseases is urgent and various approaches should be actively pursued. This planned conference intends to bring leading scientists and clinicians from all over the world to present their unpublished observations or findings to attendees and to share their vision or prospects on translational research.We expect that some presenters, either by talks or posters, will discuss our current state of knowledge in disease mechanisms, novel targets, new genetic association or pathways, approaches for identifying new therapeutic targets, and biomarkers for diagnosis or treatment readouts. We will also invite speakers who are conducting later stages of drug discoveries to share clinical trial results. The talks and poster presentations will include the most updated therapeutic strategies, newly discovered therapeutic targets, and recent clinical developments at various stages in the area of Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative diseases.  

Key topics of discussion will include:

• BACE1 inhibitors and/or γ-secretase modulators for reducing amyloid deposition 
• Active and passive vaccination for enhancing clearance of amyloid plaques
• Vaccines for reducing tau pathology
• Antisense approaches for AD, PD and ALS therapy
• Neural stem cell approaches for neurodegeneration
• Inflammatory modulators for neurodegeneration.
• Genetic linkage study and big data approaches
• Novel therapeutic targets

The significance of having this conference is to provide a unique forum for the research community focusing on translational studies geared towards therapies in AD and related neurodegenerative diseases to come together and to discuss the latest advances and the future challenges in the field.  It will also facilitate interactions between junior scientists and leading investigators in a relatively small conference setting. 

Student Offer

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity for students! Fully paying academics can bring a student for only €830. Unfortunately, Postdocs are not eligible. Both registration packages include; accommodation for the 25, 26, 27 July (on a shared basis for students) and a food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Emily Meen to obtain a special registration link for your student. 

Confirmed Keynote Speakers

Ed Boyden (MIT)
NOVEL TOOLS FOR ANALYZING AND REPAIRING THE BRAIN IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Christine Van Broeckhoven (University of Antwerp)
RELEVANCE OF NOVEL GENES IDENTIFIED IN FAMILIES WITH ALZHEIMER’S OR RELATED NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES FOR TARGETED THERAPY
Anne Schaefer (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)

Confirmed Invited Speakers

Li Gan (Weill Cornell Medical College)
MALADAPTIVE MICROGLIA DRIVE NEUROTOXICITY IN TAUOPATHY
Dave Holtzman (Washington University)
THE ROLE OF ApoE IN TAU-MEDIATED NEURODEGENERATION
Yadong Huang (Gladstone Institutes)
NEURONAL ApoE DRIVE SELECTIVE NEURODEGENERATION IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Nancy Ip (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
UNDERSTANDING INNATE IMMUNITY IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE – INSIGHTS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THERAPEUTICS
Manolis Kellis (MIT)
SINGLE-CELL DISSECTION OF NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE CIRCUITRY
Jonathan Kipnis (Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis)
MENINGEAL LYMPHATICS AS A THERAPEUTIC TARGET IN AD
Ken Kosik (UC Santa Barbara)
Yueming Li (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
INNATE IMMUNITY AND G-SECRETASE
Shane Liddelow (NYU Langone Health)
Andreas Pfenning (Carnegie Mellon University)
LEVERAGING EVOLUTION AND MACHINE LEARNING TO PREDICT THE CELL TYPE-SPECIFICITY OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE-ASSOCIATED GENETIC VARIANTS
Domenico Pratico (Temple University)
SORTING OUT TRAFFIC JAM IN ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND RELATED TAUOPATHIES
Annabelle Singer (Emory University)
NEW APPROACHES TO ALZHEIMER’S: FROM NEURAL DEFICITS TO NEURAL STIMULATION
Sam Sisodia (University of Chicago)
ROLE OF THE GUT MICROBIOME IN MODULATION OF A AMYLOIDOSIS AND MICROGLIAL FUNCTION
Bob Vasser (Northwestern University)

Target Audience

To bring junior investigators from academic labs and industries to present and closely interact with leading scientists in the field. We anticipate international representation from the US, Europe, Canada, Japan, Korea, China, and others. 

Educational Need

Junior investigators such as graduate students or postdoctoral fellows as well as clinician scientists are expected to gain knowledge on the most current therapeutic strategies in AD and the related field.  

Although the programme has not yet been released, we are able to confirm that the conference should begin no earlier than 14:00 with opening comments on 25th July 2021. The conference will conclude no later than 12:30 on 28th July 2021.