A global dialogue on dementia and health system readiness gathered international leaders to discuss this area of focus as part of the dementia landscape project. This dialogue was led by Dr Margaret Hamburg, former Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration and member of the World Dementia Council, and Professor Howard Bergman, Professor of Family Medicine, Medicine (Geriatrics), and Oncology at McGill University.
Chairs
Dr Margaret Hamburg
Dr Margaret (Peggy) A. Hamburg is an internationally recognised leader in public health and medicine. She is the former Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), having stepped down from that role in April 2015 after almost six years of service. Peggy Hamburg is Chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is an elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Academy of Sciences, where she serves as Foreign Secretary. She currently sits on the board of the Commonwealth Fund, the Simons Foundation, the Urban Institute and the American Museum of Natural History. She is also a member of the Harvard University Global Advisory Council and the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Professor Howard Bergman
Dr Howard Bergman is Professor of Family Medicine, Medicine (Geriatrics), and Oncology, and Assistant Dean, International Affairs, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University. In 2009, at the request of the Quebec Minister of Health, he authored the Quebec Alzheimer Plan and is presently working with the Quebec ministry of health and social services on its implementation. He co-created and co-leads with Professor Isabelle Vedel, the Canadian team for healthcare services/system improvement in dementia care (ROSA research team). In 2018-19, he chaired the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Panel of 6 experts for the Assessment of Evidence and Best Practices for the development of a Canadian Dementia Strategy, assembled at the request of Public Health Agency of Canada.
Speakers
Dr Joanne Pike
Dr Joanne Pike, DrPH, is the chief strategy officer of the Alzheimer’s Association. In this role she oversees the Association’s strategic plan to advance risk reduction, care and support, research, advocacy, diversity and inclusion, concern and awareness, and fundraising. During her 25 years in progressive leadership in social support and public health, Dr. Pike has developed and executed successful health-focused initiatives while implementing revenue strategies to support those outcomes. At the Alzheimer’s Association, she oversees care and support services offered across the organization to those affected by the disease; outreach aimed at creating partnerships with health systems, physicians and other health care professionals; long-term care initiatives focused on person-centered care delivery models; and growth strategies for reaching more individuals through quality improvement, education, and supportive programs and services. Dr. Pike is responsible for guiding the implementation of the Association’s Dementia Care Practice Recommendations, which establish a new foundation in quality care for individuals living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. The product line — which includes essentiALZ® certification and curriculum review — are designed to train professional care providers to deliver high-quality, person-centered care to people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
Fiona Carragher
As Alzheimer’s Society’s Director of Research and Influencing, Fiona plays a pivotal role in
the Society vision to create a world without dementia. Fiona has overall responsibility for
our Research and Influencing strategy; leading our growing and ambitious world-class research programme and portfolio and our work to strengthen our position as the national charity leader on dementia health, social care policy and societal change. Prior to joining Alzheimer’s Society, Fiona was the Deputy Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England, providing leadership for the 50,000 healthcare science professionals in the NHS and expert advice to the health system on science, innovation and diagnostics. She led a broad portfolio of policy responsibilities including establishing the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostics programme and the system wide Action Plan on Hearing Loss. She is a passionate advocate for women in health and led the establishment of the first Women in Science and Engineering fellowship programme in the NHS. Fiona is committed to ensuring that we reach every person who has a dementia diagnosis and wants our help. She wants to change the conversation on dementia, mainstream the rights of people affected by dementia and drive the research agenda, working tirelessly to improve care and find a cure.
Dr Maria Tome
Dr. Tome serves as Senior Scientific Officer at the Product Development and Scientific Support Department of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). EMA can provide medicine developers advice on the most appropriate way to generate robust evidence on a medicine's benefits and risks. EMA provides scientific advice and qualification of novel methodologies to support the timely and sound development of high- quality, effective and safe medicines, for the benefit of patients.
Other dialogues in the series
To inform the dementia landscape report, the Council has hosted global dialogues for international dementia leaders focusing on key themes of research, care and prevention that were identified at the London dementia summit in 2013, as well as on additional key themes and new policy priorities that we have agreed to highlight in the report, including data sharing and dementia registries, and the impact of dementia on low- and middle-income countries.