Senior Director of Scientific Initiatives Penny Dacks, PhD, and Director of Research and Grants Debra Niehoff, PhD, represented AFTD at the 2023 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference held July 14-15 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The conference brought together researchers, healthcare professionals, and industry specialists to share recent discoveries and novel best practices for treating and preventing neurodegenerative diseases like FTD and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Drs. Dacks and Niehoff joined attendees from a variety of organizations working in the dementia field, including ALLFTD’s FTD Prevention Initiative, the FTD Professional Interest Area (a group of FTD-focused researchers including early career scientists), and Gates Ventures (a partner in the ADDF Diagnostics Accelerator program that funds FTD biomarker development with the support of AFTD).

Biopharma companies provided updates on recent clinical trials, including promising phase 3 trial data from Eli Lilly about the drug donanemab. According to trial results, donanemab slows Alzheimer’s disease progression through clearance of amyloid plaques, even more so than leqembi, a similar drug that received FDA approval earlier this year. AC Immune presented data on a new FTD therapeutic that aims to block the spread of TDP-43 “seeds” that can trigger abnormal protein accumulations, as well as a novel PET imaging tracer for TDP-43.

Dr. Dacks presented on behalf of the FTD Disorders Registry about its FTD Quick Questions program. This ongoing survey program captures insights from a diverse range of people with a lived experience of FTD.

Dr. Niehoff presented “Grant Opportunities and Tips and Tools on Being Successful on Grant Applications” at a pre-conference workshop for early-career researchers. The workshop gave promising scientists a chance to learn about the funding offered by the U.S. and Canadian governments, as well as nonprofits such as AFTD and the Alzheimer’s Association, and to gain guidance from professionals with experience in research funding.

Additionally, several AFTD grant recipients presented their research at the conference. AFTD Pilot Grant awardees Andrew Arrant, PhD, and Allison Lindauer, PhD, and Clinical Research Training Scholarship awardee Indira Garcia-Cordero, PhD, shared findings from their recent work. While Magdalini Polymenidou, PhD, who received an award through the FTD Biomarkers Initiative in 2019, could not attend the conference, her colleague at the University of Zurich, Vera Wiersma, PhD, presented her research on her behalf.

“The field of neurodegeneration has come so far, as showcased by the diversity of research presented at AAIC and the first-ever medications to conclusively slow the progression of disease in people with Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Dacks. “The field of Alzheimer’s disease has benefited from years of continued, high-level scientific investment and from learning how to match the right patients with the right treatments. By learning from our colleagues in Alzheimer’s disease, the field of FTD is positioned to move faster than ever.”