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Biomarker implementation
This dialogue 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 open with presentations from Professor Vanessa Raymont, University of Oxford, and Professor Jeff Burns, University of Kansas. The discussion will explore the practical challenges of integrating biomarker-based diagnosis and how the field can build the policy and advocacy case needed for health systems to adopt and fund these tools.
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Advocacy
Dementia is entering the era with new diaganostics, the first treatments and prevention interventions. How then does the global advocacy movement respond to this moment? What coalition is needed from scientists through to patients to collaborate, to share knowledge, to develop best practice and to deliver change? Learn how we are shaping the future of dementia advocacy and discover opportunities to contribute
World Dementia Council Breakfast Roundtable
Date: 15 April 2026
Location: ADI Conference, Lyon, France
Format: Invitation-only breakfast roundtable
This World Dementia Council breakfast roundtable at the ADI Conference in Lyon will bring together leaders to discuss how advocacy must evolve as the dementia field reaches an inflection point. Health systems are beginning to confront the adoption of plasma biomarkers and the first generation of disease-modifying treatments, while research on prevention and risk reduction continues to grow. Studies such as US POINTER suggest that lifestyle interventions may improve cognitive outcomes, and a growing body of evidence shows that environmental and behavioural factors can influence dementia risk.
Together these developments signal a profound shift for advocacy movements. The future of dementia treatment is increasingly understood as delivering the right drug to the right patient at the right time — which means identifying people earlier in the disease trajectory. For advocacy organisations, historically built around carers and focused on support and diagnosis, this raises new questions about how to engage and represent people in pre-symptomatic or very early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
The breakfast discussion will explore what advocacy and engagement look like for this emerging population and how dementia movements can champion their interests to policymakers and health systems as diagnosis moves earlier.
This invitation-only event forms part of the Council’s wider work exploring how advocacy is changing in an era of new diagnostics and the first disease-modifying treatments. You can read more below about the project and related meetings below.