On This Page:

• > ISTAART Membership + AAIC Registration (Student)
• > Student and Post-doc Lounge
• > Early Career Mentoring Breakfast
• > Early Career Networking Reception
• > Poster Competition
• > Changes in NIH Grant Policies
• > ISTAART Student Volunteer Program

Students can experience it all at AAIC! Learn about the latest in dementia research, network with the world's leading Alzheimer's experts and meet other students like yourself — all during the course of one conference. Don't miss the highlights below:

Enhance Your Experience – Join ISTAART

Students are invited to join the Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART), a professional society designed to create a year-round link between individuals interested in dementia science and care. Select "ISTAART Membership + AAIC Registration (Student)" during registration to add one year of ISTAART membership (through June 30, 2020) onto your conference admission. You can also join onsite at Booth #500.

Student and Post-Doc Lounge

Need to get away from it all? Join other students and post-docs for some much-needed down time, refreshments and all-important networking. In addition, "Meet the Experts" events will be held in the lounge throughout the conference.

A schedule will be announced onsite.

Early Career Mentoring Breakfast

Monday, July 15: 7 – 8:15 a.m.
Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown Hotel; Room: Hollywood

Join us for a breakfast event that allows for early career professionals to engage with established investigators in small groups. This event is coordinated in conjunction with the Alliance of Women Alzheimer's Researchers (AWARE) Professional Interest Area (PIA) through the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART). Note: space for this event is limited and an RSVP is required, as it is meant to foster small group discussion and mentorship.

Early Career Networking Reception

Wednesday, July 17: 6 – 8 p.m.
Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown Hotel; Room: Spire 73

Join us the final evening of AAIC for a reception for early career professionals to network with one another as well as with funding agencies from around the world, and discuss the week's activities. One of the most popular events at AAIC, this reception always features a large crowd of new and old friends.

AAIC Student and Post-Doc Poster Competition

Competitions are held in each conference program theme to determine the best posters by students and post-docs at AAIC. Judging takes place onsite by the Scientific Program Committee and the winners will be recognized at the conference. Submit your interest during next year's abstract submission.

Changes in NIH Grant Policies: News to Know as you Write Your Next Application

Wednesday, July 17: 7 – 8 a.m.
JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE; Room: Gold Ballroom 1-2

Good science alone does not make a good grant application. The premise of this workshop is that understanding how your application will be reviewed can help you address the questions that reviewers will ask, and help you avoid errors that may hurt in review. This workshop will cover the review process at NIH with a focus on things that should be taken into account as you write your grant application. Special considerations for different funding mechanisms—Fellowships, R21, and R01s—will be identified. In addition, we will cover what has changed recently. NIH policy initiatives change the requirements for applications and may shift how reviewers score applications. There are recent changes in how human subjects research is handled; the definition of clinical trial has changed trials (your “human experiment” may now be a “clinical trial”), these applications require more information, and there are new review criteria. NIH policies on rigor and transparency in research are increasingly implemented in review. An update on NIH policies regarding new and early stage investigators will be given. Our hope is that better informed applicants will write better proposals and produce better science.

ISTAART Student Volunteer Program at AAIC

The International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART) offers a Student Volunteer Program in conjunction with AAIC 2019. The program provides accepted ISTAART student members with the opportunity to travel to AAIC 2019.

Accepted volunteers are provided with the following:

• AAIC full conference registration
• Housing at a designated a hotel
• Airfare to and from the conference

While daily volunteer efforts are an essential aspect of the program, participants are still able to fully acquire the latest scientific updates through attendance at sessions.

Applications for the 2019 ISTAART Student Volunteer Program are now closed.
For questions or information, email ISTAART@alz.org or call +1.312.335.5188.

"Networking with colleagues with common goals can catapult progress forward—ISTAART’s Professional Interest Areas (PIAs) provide that opportunity for Alzheimer's disease at a global scale."

– Roberta Diaz Brinton, Ph.D. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., University of Arizona, Tuscon, Ariz.