Advocacy Events

This dialogue on 9 April 2026 will examine how new blood-based biomarkers can move from research into health systems. Chaired by Dr Fiona Carragher, Chief Policy and Research Officer at the Alzheimer’s Society, the meeting will hear from Professor Vanessa Raymont, University of Oxford, and Professor Jeff Burns, University of Kansas. The discussion will explore the practical challenges of integrating biomarkers and how to build the policy and advocacy case needed for health systems to adopt and fund these tools.

This breakfast roundtable on 15 April 2026 will explore how advocacy must evolve as dementia enters an era of biomarkers, earlier diagnosis and the first disease-modifying treatments. The focus of advocacy is also shifting earlier in the disease pathway. Dementia movements, often built around carers and support, now face the challenge of engaging people in pre-symptomatic or very early stages of disease. The discussion will examine what effective advocacy looks like for this emerging population.

This virtual dialogue on 27 January 2026 examined how brain health is being framed as a public-policy concept, where the narrative is effective, and where clearer definition is needed as it overlaps with mental health, cognitive ageing and brain capital. It will also consider practical approaches to advocating for brain health in different settings. The dialogue forms part of the World Dementia Council’s year-long programme on translating scientific progress into real-world delivery.

This private meeting on 10 December 2025 brought together leaders from non-profit organisations, academia, and industry to reflect on strategic priorities for advocacy in an era of earlier diagnosis, prevention, and emerging treatments. The dialogue considered how advocacy can help ensure scientific progress translates into meaningful change for people and communities. Participants shared perspectives on current opportunities and barriers across prevention, diagnostics, and treatment access. 

As part of the Alzheimer Europe Conference in Bologna, on 7 October 2025 the World Dementia Council will hosted a panel discussion on advancing advocacy in an era of treatments. The session explored three critical priorities for dementia movements: implementing brain health strategies, translating diagnostics and treatments into routine care, and reshaping the public narrative around dementia.

The World Dementia Council hosted a dinner on 22 September 2025 during UNGA to kick off a new programme exploring making public policy advances in brain health. The Council has launched a year-long series exploring how to drive public-policy advances on brain health worldwide. The dinner, one of a series of thought convenings the Council is hosting, brought together people working in brain health from academia through to advocacy to share ideas and perspectives. 

The World Dementia Council in partnership with Alzheimer's Association held a breakfast meeting at AAIC in Toronto. The meeting held on 30 July 2025 gathered participants to exexplore what it takes to turn scientific progress into meaningful change on the ground. Drawing on global perspectives, we examined how advocacy can help drive that translation from discovery to delivery.