Washington, DC, Oct. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UsAgainstAlzheimer’s this week hosted the 2023 National Alzheimer’s Summit, a groundbreaking event dedicated to applying recent scientific and policy breakthroughs to real-world clinical practice. This virtual summit brought together leading healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, and advocates on October 17 and 18. The event featured notable voices within the Alzheimer’s community, including U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV); Jeffrey Cummings, MD, ScD, Director of Chambers-Grundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience; Howard Fillit, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation; and more.
“It’s time to shift science into practice. What does that mean?” asked George Vradenburg, Chair and Co-founder of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s at the start of the Summit. “It means that we can’t wait for these important discoveries to slowly, eventually, make their way to everyone. It means equipping healthcare providers with the latest information, lowering the cost and burden of obtaining an earlier and accurate Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and navigating hurdles in government policy and delivery systems.”
Sessions focused on cutting-edge research; innovative approaches to Alzheimer’s prevention, detection, and treatment; and the urgent need to address health equity as healthcare providers are better positioned than ever before to play a leading role in fighting Alzheimer’s.
“We need primary care to be on the front lines of detecting cognitive impairment and acting on it. Primary care is in the position to do this because of their longstanding relationships with these patients. And we need primary care to listen for those concerns, ask about these concerns, and when there is a concern to act on it,” said Dr. Kate Possin, PhD, John Douglas French Foundation Endowed Professor, Global Brain Health Institute.
The summit explored concrete actions that can be taken to enhance patient care and support. Following the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of Leqembi and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) decision to expand Medicare coverage for additional PET scans, advocates are turning their sights to additional action like the CHANGE Act, which would encourage early detection, diagnosis, and increased access to interventions.
With Latinos and Black people most heavily impacted by Alzheimer’s, brain health equity was an essential part of every discussion ranging from clinical trial recruitment to access to care, with broad consensus that the status quo is leaving behind historically minoritized populations.
“Everybody has to have some accountability of equity and good science,” said Dr. Consuelo Wilkins, MD, MSCI, Professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The National Alzheimer’s Summit served as a reminder that it is not up to just one organization, one company, one researcher, or one policymaker to end Alzheimer’s. It takes all of us, with patients at the heart of it.
“This is an ecosystem, and it all has to work together to get us the outcome we want, and that’s healthier patients and patients need to be a part of this,” added Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, MD, ScD, Director of Chambers-Grundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience.
While the live event has concluded, the summit can be viewed free on-demand at AlzSummit.org.
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About UsAgainstAlzheimer’s
UsAgainstAlzheimer’s is engaged in a relentless pursuit to end Alzheimer’s, the sixth leading killer in America. Our work centers on prevention, early detection and diagnosis, and equal access to treatments regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. To achieve our mission, we give voice to patients and caregivers while partnering with government, scientists, the private sector, and allied organizations -- the people who put the “Us” in UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.
