Research

New blood test may detect Alzheimer's

A study partially funded by the Alzheimer's Association and the Zenith Society has published preliminary results for a groundbreaking new blood test that has been proven effective in detecting Alzheimer's disease. A New York Times article about the study features four leading Alzheimer scientists, who all have ties to the Zenith society. The study's main author, Dr. Tony Wyss-Coray, was a 2005 Zenith awardee; Drs. Sam Gandy and William Jagust were presenters at the May Zenith Society meeting; and Dr. Dennis Selkoe was the scientific presenter at the Zenith meeting in November.

2007 Association-funded research grants announced

The Alzheimer's Association fiscal 2007 research program includes 109 grants to outstanding researchers whose projects span the entire spectrum of vital issues in dementia science, including prevention and earlier detection.

View 2007 grants >>

Research Roundtable

The May Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable meeting convened more than 90 invited scientists in Washington, D.C., to explore the Academic/Industry Interface for Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery.

The meeting focused on how academia and industry can forge better working relationships within the current drug discovery climate to speed movement of valuable discoveries from basic science labs to clinical testing by pharmaceutical companies.

Watch for a paper providing further details about the Academic/Industry meeting in a forthcoming issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Drugs in Phase III clinical trials

This summer in Washington, D.C., news from the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Prevention of Dementia highlighted promising targets for next-generation drugs.

A number of new approaches to treatment that may actually slow or stop progression of the disease are currently being tested for effectiveness in clinical trials. If these drugs fare well, it is possible that the first generation of disease-modifying treatments and interventions could actually be made available in the next five years.

See the Clinical Trials Index for a complete list of Alzheimer treatments currently being tested for effectiveness.