“International Congress on Neurodegenerative Diseases”, Lisbon 19th - 21st September 2024
The International Congress on Neurodegenerative Diseases, held on September 19-21, 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal, at the Champalimaud Foundation, on the occasion of World Alzheimer’s Day under the Presidency (and attendance) of H.M. Queen Sofia.
The Congress, a joint effort of Spain and Portugal, was organised by the Queen Sofia Foundation, the CIEN (Centre for Research in Neurological Diseases) and the Champalimaud Foundation, and brought together world-leading researchers in a unique platform to share the latest advances in research and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The collaboration between the two countries is reaffirmed at a unique and hopeful time, marked by precision medicine, advances in early detection with biomarkers, experimentation with artificial intelligence for diagnosis or the horizon of new drug therapies.
World-renowned experts, researchers and health professionals have come together in a scientific event that seeks not only to promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences, but also to promote research and raise awareness in society, areas in which the Queen Sofia Foundation and H.M. Queen Sofia have been working for decades.
The International Congress on Neurodegenerative Diseases, established as a key event for research professionals in this field, featured a program structured into seven scientific sessions and contributions from more than thirty researchers and representatives of associations from several countries, in an effort to integrate research and care.
Among the most prominent speakers at the congress was Cath Mummery, a neurologist at University College London and director of the Dementia Research Centre at the British institution, where she is leading innovative clinical trials for treatments that could modify the course of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease; David Wolk, director of the Penn Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania, recognised for his pioneering work in research on cognition and ageing, and Ed Lein, senior researcher at the Allen Institute for Brain Science at the University of Washington, who contributed his experience in the creation of brain atlases and the use of genomics to better understand these pathologies.
The scientific program covered aspects of early detection, genetic variability, neuroimaging, biomarkers, personalised medicine or non-pharmacological therapies, and was designed by experts from the Champalimaud Foundation, such as John Krakauer, director of the Human Neuroscience Programme; Joe Paton, director of Champalimaud Research, and Marcelo Mendonça, neurologist and researcher, as well as by Pascual Sánchez Juan, scientific director of CIEN (Alzheimer’s Centre Reina Sofia).
Several renowned experts from Spain and Portugal presented keynote lectures and participated in debates, including Joaquim Ferreira, director of the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Lisbon; Alberto Lleó, head of Neurology at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and director of its Memory Unit; and Agustín Ruiz, scientific director of the ACE Alzheimer Center Barcelona.