The 2016 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC)

This post originally appeared on Science of Aging, the blog for the Institute on Aging at the University of Pennsylvania. It is reposted here with permission.

The 2016 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) was held last month in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The annual conference gathers thousands of physicians, scholars, and advocates who work on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD). The event had such a considerable local impact that banners for the conference appeared throughout Toronto Pearson International Airport, the downtown core, and the event even made the front page of the Toronto Star local newspaper.

The weeklong session hosted plenary sessions, focused research sessions featuring several speakers on similar topics, poster sessions, and many other formats fostering communication around AD. University of Pennsylvania researchers, including members of IOA collaborator Li-San Wang, PhD’s lab presented during the meeting’s poster sessions.

Left to right: Alex Amlie-Wolf, PhD candidate in the Genomics and Computational Biology graduate group at the University of Pennsylvania, presenting his poster at AAIC; Prabhakaran Gangadharan presenting his poster on NIAGADS at AAIC

The NIA Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS) is the Data Coordinating Center for the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP), an effort designed to meet the research goals outlined in the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease, and developed under the National Alzheimer’s Project Act.

Amanda Kuzma presenting her poster on behalf of the ADSP Data Flow Work Group

The Alzheimer’s Association works to address AD through research grants; publishing Alzheimer’s and Dementia, a peer-reviewed scientific journal; connecting patients and families of those with AD and other dementias, online and in-person; and lobbying congress to continue funding AD.

Given the depth of the Alzheimer’s Association’s reach, AAIC is such a large gathering of AD scholars physicians, and advocates that it is impossible to experience everything the conference has to offer. The Alzheimer’s Association keeps a log of media coverage on the conference, featuring over 70 articles.

Next year, AAIC will take place July 16-20, 2017, in London.