2024 Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Summit

10:00 Chair’s welcome remarks 
Prof Fiona Ducotterd, Chief Scientific Officer, Alzheimer’s Research UK | UCL Drug Discovery Institute 

10.10 Keynote Address: Unveiling Hope in Alzheimer's Research 
Prof Fiona Ducotterd, Chief Scientific Officer, Alzheimer’s Research UK | UCL Drug Discovery Institute 

• Where are we now? Determining the current status of Alzheimer’s drug development. 

• Exploring promising research avenues like personalized medicine and new drug targets. 

• Highlighting the importance of ongoing research, collaboration, and staying updated in the fight against Alzheimer's. 

• Emphasizing the potential for future breakthroughs and a continued commitment to finding a cure. 

10.40 A GP Panel: Navigating Challenges When Discussing Treatment Options for Alzheimer's 
Chair : Prof Fiona Ducotterd, Chief Scientific Officer, Alzheimer’s Research UK | UCL Drug Discovery Institute 

Panel:  Prof Dame Louise Robinson. Professor of Primary Care and Ageing; Regius Professor of Ageing 
Rikki Lorenti, Lead Admiral Nurse, Dementia Support Team, Havant and Waterlooville PCN 
Dr Nick Merrifield, GP and Clinical Director, New Malden and Worcester Park PCN 

This GP panel explores the challenges and potential solutions for effectively communicating with Alzheimer's patients and families about treatment options. The session begins with a 15 minute presentation by Prof Dame Louise Robinson. Key points discussed include: 

• Managing expectations and balancing hope for future advancements with the current limitations of treatment. 

• Differentiating promising research from established treatment options. 

• Addressing emotional complexities and creating a safe space for patients and families to express concerns and fostering empathy. 

• Empowering patients and families in shared decision-making and providing access to resources and support groups. 

11.20 Networking Break 

11.40   Presentation organised and funded by TauRx

The future of long term care for people living with dementia.
Jim Pearson, Deputy Chief Executive, Alzheimer’s Scotland

Social Care is in crisis in Scotland and across the UK. People living with dementia and their families struggle to access any meaningful options for the social care support as their needs change.  In the absence of any strategic approach to, or investment in, social care services and social care workforce, people with dementia and the families and friends who care for them too often find themselves in crisis. This can lead to avoidable and costly hospital admissions and in the absence of any meaningful alternative, to care home admissions, where despite the rhetoric about free personal and nursing care, people with advancing dementia face eye watering social care charges for care needs which are clearly health and specialist nursing needs. 

Alzheimer Scotland’s has published a major new report calling for reform of Scotland’s long term care provision. The report was produced by a Commission, established by Alzheimer Scotland and chaired by the former First Minister for Scotland, Henry McLeish.

This presentation will set out the key findings of the Commission and the recommendations to reform Scotland’s long term care provision. Although this work is focussed on Scotland it will resonate across the UK.

12.10 Panel discussion: The significance of early Alzheimer's diagnosis in improving patient outcomes and quality of life. 
Chair : Prof Fiona Ducotterd, Chief Scientific Officer, Alzheimer’s Research UK | UCL Drug Discovery Institute 

Panel:  Dr Amanda Heslegrave, Senior Research Fellow, UKDRI Fluid Biomarker Laboratory 
Dr Ivan Koychev PhD MRCPsych, Senior Clinical Researcher | Consultant Neuropsychiatrist University of Oxford
Dr Ben Underwood, Assistant Professor, University of Cambridge, Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

• Innovative Diagnostic Technologies and Biomarkers e.g. Blood BioMarker Challenge 

• Impact of Early Diagnosis on Treatment Efficacy and Disease Progression  

• Future Directions and Opportunities in Early Alzheimer's Diagnosis Research  

• Q&A session for audience enquiries 

13.00 Networking break 

14.00   Presentation organised and funded by Eisai

Optimising the early identification of patients at risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease  in Primary Care.
Dr Jill Rasmussen, Primary Care Specialist Dementia, Mental Health and Intellectual Disability

This session will formulate a practical guide to help Primary Care navigate earlier identification and referral of patients most at risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease using patient information they already have available to them

• Current tools that are recommended by NICE for identifying people with potential dementia 
• Why this should change as we endeavour to identify patients at risk of and/or in the earlier phases of Alzheimer’s Disease   
• Ensuring appropriate referral to specialist services and considerations including pathways & options for those not eligible for treatment 
• Discussing Primary Care ‘readiness’ for the evolving treatment landscape, acknowledging current gaps in dementia patient support & management that need to be considered in the context of working with specialist secondary care services  

14.30 A New Era for PET Biomarkers: Dementia Diagnosis & Therapeutic Monitoring.
Dr Emer MacSweeney BSc (Hons), MRCP, FRCR, CEO of Re:Cognition Health & Consultant Neuroradiologist 

15.00 Potential issues and challenges in evaluation of disease-modifying dementia treatments.  
Fatima Salih, Scientific Adviser in the Science Policy and Research Programme. NICE 

15.30 Coffee Break and Networking 

15.50 Biomarkers in the era of disease modifying treatments.
Dr Amanda Heslegrave, Senior Research Fellow, UKDRI Fluid Biomarker Laboratory

Will discuss a very brief history of how we have used fluid biomarkers in AD diagnosis and what the development of blood based biomarkers has meant to the field and then move onto the future.

16.20 Panel Discussion: Demystifying Clinical Trials - How You Can Inform Your Patients 
Chair : Prof Fiona Ducotterd, Chief Scientific Officer, Alzheimer’s Research UK | UCL Drug Discovery Institute 

Panel:  George Robinson, Head of Global Patient Recruitment, Re:Cognition Health 
Dr Ivan Koychev PhD MRCPsych, Senior Clinical Researcher | Consultant Neuropsychiatrist University of Oxford 
John-Paul Taylor, Professor of Translational Dementia Research, Newcastle University

• Understanding the different types of clinical trials and their role in drug development 

• Ethical considerations surrounding clinical trial participation 

• Supporting patients' informed decision-making about clinical trial participation 

17.00 Close of Summit