This Year's Speakers
Dr. Jack Diamond
Dr. Diamond is the Scientific Director of the Alzheimer Society of Canada. He was formerly Associate Director for Scientific Affairs at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University, and was the founding Chair of the original Department of Neurosciences when the new medical school was established at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Dr. Diamond is also Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at McMaster University, where he continues to run his laboratory research program with a special focus on the apoE4 risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Diamond is a longstanding member of the grant review committees of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, and he also served as a volunteer Scientific Committee reviewer for the ALS Society of Canada and the Spinal Cord Society. Dr. Diamond received his PhD and subsequently his medical degree at the University of London, England, after which he did two years of post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School, returning to a faculty position at University College London. He is widely published, having written more than 75 papers in refereed journals, and 15 book chapters. ( Close )
Dr. Jack Diamond
Dr. Diamond is the Scientific Director of the Alzheimer Society of Canada. He was formerly Associate Director for Scientific Affairs at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University ... ( Read More )
Alzheimer's disease: what it is, and why the current therapeutic targets may not be enough
The presentation will be in lay language. It will briefly outline the development of our present understanding of the disease, the findings which suggested appropriate targets for pharmacological interventions, and newer observations which are telling us that current therapeutic strategies may not be enough.
Dr. Robert A. Rissman
Dr. Rissman received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Drexel University College of Medicine in 2001. He completed postdoctoral work at the University of California, Irvine and at The Salk Institute, before joining the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Department of Neurosciences in 2008. The primary focus of Dr. Rissman’s research group is to investigate the contribution of stress and changes in stress signalling intermediates in Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology. In addition to his primary research, Dr. Rissman is also the director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study Laboratory at UCSD.
Current areas of study in Dr. Rissman’s laboratory include using transgenic mice and in vivo pharmacology to elucidate the role of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptors in Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as how these receptors can act as drug targets that could potentially delay the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease. ( Close )
Dr. Robert A. Rissman
Dr. Rissman received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Drexel University College of Medicine in 2001. He completed postdoctoral work at the University of California ... ( Read More )
Advancing Alzheimer’s therapeutics: Preclinical trial strategies for disease-modifying treatment
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and is currently viewed as among the great incipient public health crises of the 21st century. Current FDA-approved drugs for AD do not prevent or reverse the disease, and provide only modest and temporary symptomatic benefits. Recent strategies are focused on disease-modifying therapies for AD, and aim to target β-amyloid production and accumulation and development of tau pathology. In this talk we will discuss the main goals of preclinical trials in AD, focusing on the steps and challenges that are encountered as drug candidates are studied. The talk will also focus on the internal workings and cores of the Alzheimer’s disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) and how potential drug candidates and treatment approaches are chosen for both preclinical testing and actual clinical trials in humans. In the final portion of the talk, we will discuss my ongoing research focused on identifying the role of stress in AD neuropathology, and the models and compounds that are currently being used. ( Close )
Advancing Alzheimer’s therapeutics: Preclinical trial strategies for disease-modifying treatment
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and is currently viewed as among the great incipient public health crises of the 21st century. Current FDA-approved drugs for AD do not prevent or reverse the disease, and provide only modest and temporary symptomatic benefits. ... ( Read More )
Dr. Barry D. Greenberg
Dr. Barry D. Greenberg has been involved in neurodegenerative disease research and drug discovery since 1985, primarily within the field of Alzheimer’s disease. Since obtaining his PhD in Genetics at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a postdoctoral position at Stanford University’s Department of Genetics, he has held a series of positions internationally in the US, Sweden and Canada within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, including California Biotechnology, The Upjohn Company, Cephalon, AstraZeneca and Neurochem. He was the leader of a flagship discovery project at AstraZeneca through lead optimization, involving up to 50 individuals from eight departments. Before joining UHN he was Senior Director of Pharmacology at Neurochem, responsible for the company's preclinical biology research program and a contributor to the analyses of the phase III Alzhemed trial. Dr. Greenberg has a significant background in most aspects of the drug discovery process in neurological disease, with externally recognized expertise ranging from target identification and validation through preclinical and clinical development including issues of biomarker-based diagnosis and proof of concept. He has a strong international network in the Alzheimer field including industry, academia, government and the voluntary sector, plus previous involvement in multi-sector consortia. He has authored or co-authored 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 19 book chapters and reviews. ( Close )
Dr. Barry D. Greenberg
Dr. Barry D. Greenberg has been involved in neurodegenerative disease research and drug discovery since 1985, primarily within the field of Alzheimer’s disease. Since obtaining his PhD in Genetics at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a postdoctoral position at Stanford University’s Department of Genetics ... ( Read More )
The challenges of developing disease-modifying and preventative therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
Currently, there exist only a small number of symptomatic therapies that have been approved for treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Such drugs work only in a subset of patients, and for a limited period of time. There exists a need for disease-modifying (DM) drugs that slow or prevent the inexorable progression of AD. To date, no such therapeutic approach has succeeded to achieve its end points in clinical trials. While several trials are underway to address disease modification in AD, these face formidable challenges. Patients who present with a clinical dementia have already reached an advanced stage of the disease, by which point significant brain degeneration has occurred that is likely irreversible. In addition to classical issues of delivering a safe and effective compound to the central nervous system at levels that affect a relevant target for a sufficient length of time (pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic and toxicologic considerations), several challenges that are specific to neurodegenerative dementing disorders must be addressed.
Firstly, the time of initial intervention is critical. Clearly, earlier is better in order to slow or prevent the neurodegeneration that is associated with clinical dementia. However, identification of patients at risk is problematic, as established psychometric measures are reliable only in mid- to late-stage disease. Novel assessments must be developed to distinguish incipient dementia from normal aging, and to measure rates of decline in early disease stages.
Secondly, AD is a syndrome, not a single unique disease. Many patients also suffer from, and are medicated for, co-occurring, underlying and/or co-morbid disorders, complicating establishment of therapeutic effects for novel drugs in clinical trials. Moreover, there exists high variability both among and within patients over the course of repeat assessments in the relatively lengthy clinical trials that are required to demonstrate DM effects.
As key issues to reduce signal:background in trial outcomes, patient sub-grouping according to the background disorders and treatments is likely required, and outcome measures will likely need to be adjusted with respect to therapeutic target under investigation. Such identification of appropriate patient cohorts and establishment of treatment effects will need to be largely biomarker-driven, rather than relying solely on psychometric outcome measures. This will require the identification and validation of biomarkers that are sensitive to disease progression, and relevant to the therapeutic target under investigation. Scientific, medical, logistic and economic challenges of this iterative process will be discussed. ( Close )
The challenges of developing disease-modifying and preventative therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
Currently, there exist only a small number of symptomatic therapies that have been approved for treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Such drugs work only in a subset of patients, and for a limited period of time. There exists a need for disease-modifying (DM) drugs that slow or prevent the inexorable progression of AD. To date, no such therapeutic approach has succeeded to achieve its end points in clinical trials. While several trials are underway to address disease modification in AD, these face formidable challenges. Patients who present with a clinical dementia have already reached an advanced stage of the disease, by which point significant brain degeneration has occurred that is likely irreversible. In addition to classical issues of delivering a safe and effective compound to the central nervous system at levels that affect a relevant target for a sufficient length of time (pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic and toxicologic considerations), several challenges that are specific to neurodegenerative dementing disorders must be addressed.
Firstly, ... ( Read More )
Dr. Peter Davies
Peter Davies was born in Wales in 1948. Dr Davies received a B.Sc. and a Ph.D., both in Biochemistry from the University of Leeds, England. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland before joining the staff of the Medical Research Council Brain Metabolism Unit in Edinburgh in 1974, where he began his research on Alzheimer’s Disease. His first paper on cholinergic deficits was published in 1976, and followed by a series of papers in this area. This work was instrumental in the development of the currently approved drugs for Alzheimer’s disease, Aricept, Exelon and Razodyne. In 1977, he moved to Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, He is currently a Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Neuroscience, and holds the Judith and Burton P. Resnick Chair for research on Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Davies became Scientific Director of the Litwin/Zucker Center for Research on Alzheimer’s disease at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, North Shore/LIJ in 2006.
For more than 30 years, Dr Davies’ research has been focused on biochemistry of Alzheimer's disease. He has published over 200 research papers, and has been particularly interested in the development of new treatments and diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's disease.
Dr Davies has been associated with Applied Neurosolutions Inc since the company was founded in 1992. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the City of New York Liberty Medal, a Senior Investigator Award, International College of Geriatric Neuropsychopharmacology, the Renee Pollack Award, Westchester County Alzheimer’s Association and the first Metropolitan Life Foundation Prize. Dr Davies is one of only a handful of investigators in the USA who have received two MERIT awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIMH, 1989-1999, and NIA 2003-2013). These awards are given to “selected investigators who have demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity”, and provide up to 10 years of continuous research support. ( Close )
Dr. Peter Davies
Peter Davies was born in Wales in 1948. Dr Davies received a B.Sc. and a Ph.D., both in Biochemistry from the University of Leeds, England. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland before joining the staff of the Medical Research Council Brain Metabolism ... ( Read More )