Conny Helder is the former minister of Health of the Netherlands. Before that she had extensive experience in healthcare and was CEO of several innovative healthcare organizations, both in care and cure. Always on the cutting edge of innovation, research and transition of healthcare. Currently she is Chair to the Advisory Boards of OLVG Hospital (Amsterdam) and RegMedXB (regenerative medicine, Utrecht). Her goal is to shape future healthcare by bringing innovation, healthcare governance and (international) collaboration forward. Mrs.

Frank Jessen is Professor of Psychiatry and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Cologne and Scientist at Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen, DZNE (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases). He focuses on early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in patients. A particular focus is on clinical and neuropsychological assessment as well as on MR-imaging. Frank Jessen is leading international initiatives to conceptualize very first signs of AD, such as subjective cognitive decline (SCD).

Prof. Nancy Ip is currently The Morningside Professor of Life Science, and the Director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). She received her PhD degree in Pharmacology from Harvard Medical School, after which she held the position of Senior Staff Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in New York. Since joining HKUST, she has served as the Vice-President for Research and Development, the Dean of Science, Director of the Biotechnology Research Institute, and Head of the Department of Biochemistry.

Nine new international leaders join the World Dementia Council. Members were appointed from Asia, Oceania, Europe, Africa and the Americas. The new council members are drawn from different disciplines in the dementia field. 

Suvarna Alladi is Professor of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India. Dr Alladi was a Commonwealth research fellow in cognitive and behavioural neurology at Cambridge UK. She established one of the first memory clinics in India that provided multi-disciplinary care to more than 3000 patients with dementia. Her areas of interest are Frontotemporal dementia, atypical Alzheimer’s disease and vascular cognitive impairment.

Johannes Streffer (MD) is Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development of Lundbeck and visiting professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp. Johannes is neurologist and psychiatrist; he received is training from the University of Tubingen/ Germany, including his residency in Neurology, before he joined the department of Psychiatry Research at University of Zurich.