2024 Workshops and Preconferences

NIA-AA Symposium: Enabling Precision Medicine for Alzheimer’s Disease Through Open Science

Thursday, July 25: 1 – 5:30 p.m.
Friday, July 26: 8 a.m. – noon
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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The 7th Annual NIA-AA Symposium — Enabling Precision Medicine for Alzheimer’s Disease Through Open Science — will feature an array of NIA-supported translational research programs that employ precision medicine principles and open-science practices. This workshop aims to understand the complex and heterogeneous etiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) related dementias. Further, it will teach attendees about developing the next generation animal models for AD. The workshop also aims to identify and validate new disease-relevant targets and biomarkers, advance novel targets into drug discovery and bring precision medicine approaches to therapy development.

The Basics of Fluid Biomarkers in Alzheimer's Disease

Friday, July 26: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This workshop aims to provide participants with an in-depth understanding of the fundamental principles, inherent limitations, and clinical and research applications of the most common AD biomarkers present in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood. This workshop will include fundamental laboratory-focused sessions that capture the basics of neurochemistry, sample pre-analytics, assay methods and development, quality control, and regulatory considerations. It will also incorporate clinical practice-focused sessions that cover considerations for AD fluid biomarker implementation, the context of use, disclosure, and the gaps and opportunities in this field.

The Basics of Fluid Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s Disease is organized by the ISTAART Biofluid Based Biomarker Professional Interest Area (BBB-PIA) and by the Alzheimer’s Association Global Biomarkers Standardization Consortia (GBSC). This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Measuring What Matters: Evaluating, Selecting and Developing Outcome Measures Using Advanced Psychometrics and Clinimetrics

Friday, July 26: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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The choice of an appropriate measurement instrument is a key issue in dementia research and clinical trials in terms of optimizing diagnosis, prognosis and the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. This course aims to improve the quality of outcome measures, as well as the design and evaluation of the quality of clinimetric/psychometric studies. The emphasis will be on knowing “what to measure” based on a detailed definition of the construct of interest and relevant conceptual models and will incorporate discussion of measurement theories such as classical test theory and item response theory.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Improving Public Health Action on Brain Health: A Public Health Center of Excellence Workshop on How to Effect Change

Friday, July 26: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown

On a population level, evidence shows several modifiable risk factors can improve brain health. But getting from the science on risk to public health action in communities requires an understanding of how to effect change. What are the most effective ways to get individuals to change behavior? Where are the best places to reach people from various communities? How do you successfully pursue policies to create the environments that make behavior change easier?

This workshop will review the science from multiple academic disciplines on how to drive effective public health action. By connecting researchers and public health practitioners, this workshop will help bridge the gap between what we know academically and how public health can more effectively promote brain health.

Sponsored by the Public Health Center of Excellence on Dementia Risk Reduction at the Alzheimer’s Association, which is funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Analytic Approaches for Neuropsychiatric Symptom Scales

Friday, July 26: 8 a.m. – noon
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This workshop will review commonly-used neuropsychiatric scales and statistical approaches depending on the distribution. Examples from different AD datasets will be used to demonstrate regression techniques. A significant portion of the workshop will also discuss and demonstrate techniques for evaluating model fit and covariate adjustment.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Getting Started with Neuroimaging Analysis

Friday, July 26: 8 a.m. – noon
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This workshop will provide hands-on training on the basics of neuroimaging. The workshop covers basic concepts in neuroimaging data formats, coordinate systems, data visualization and image processing software. There will be lessons in structural, functional, and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET).

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Leadership Skill Development Workshop for Emerging Scientists in Alzheimer’s Research

Friday, July 26: 8 a.m. – noon
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This workshop will explore key aspects of leadership, focusing on honing skills in communication, decision-making, and effective management styles. Through interactive exercises and discussions, attendees will gain practical insights and strategies to navigate the challenges unique to leadership in science.This workshop will go beyond theoretical concepts, providing tangible tools and resources to empower attendees as leaders in the field.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Mini-Linguistic State Examination (MLSE) — A Tool to Diagnose and Subtype Primary Progressive Aphasia

Friday, July 26: 8 a.m. – noon
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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The mini-linguistic state examination (MLSE) is a rapid and comprehensive test to evaluate and subtype Primary progressive aphasia (PPA). This half-day workshop will take the attendees through the description and elements of the MLSE providing case examples and videos. Details regarding scoring and analysis of errors with examples will also be shown, and ongoing work in various languages across the world will be highlighted.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Neuroimmune Interactions and Its Impact on VCID

Friday, July 26: 8 a.m. – noon
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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The role of pathological interactions with blood vessels and the downstream neuroinflammation in vascular contributions to dementia (VCID) is an understudied and potentially therapeutically relevant area of research. This workshop will cover several aspects of neuroimmune interactions, starting from recent discoveries in translational animal models and patient-centered molecular and cellular models.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Performing Assessments for Cognition, Frailty and Delirium in the Perioperative Setting: An Interactive Skills Bootcamp

Friday, July 26: 8 a.m. – noon
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This workshop has been designed by board certified neuropsychologists, geriatricians, neuroscientists and geriatric specialty anesthesiologists to train individuals on the type of cognitive domains most vulnerable to anesthesia and surgery. The workshop will explain how to behaviorally identify common neurodegenerative disorders with the highest rates of delirium risk and how to administer common perioperative cognitive screening tools in preoperative settings for either in person or telephone screening. It will also explore components of frailty assessment, and delirium screening for the post-anesthesia care unit setting.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Foundations for Partnering with People Impacted by Dementia in Research

Friday, July 26: 8 a.m. – noon
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This workshop explores some of the challenges and recommendations to conduct research that is truly inclusive of persons living with dementia and their closest carers, and representative of cultural diversities. It also explores considerations when conducting research in low- or middle-income country (LMIC) settings. This workshop is a global and interdisciplinary perspective on "lived experience" and co-design research.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Assessing and Addressing Hearing, Vision and Olfaction in Individuals with Cognitive Impairment

Friday, July 26: 1 – 5 p.m
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This workshop will provide an introduction to hearing and vision impairment in individuals with cognitive impairment, including data and perspectives from high-income to low- and middle-income countries, It will also provide hands-on training in the assessment of hearing, vision, and olfaction in individuals with cognitive impairment, as well as hands-on assessment of cognitive function in individuals with hearing and/or vision impairment. The session is designed for researchers (junior to senior) as well as clinicians and staff working in either research or clinical settings.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Modeling Non-Linear Change Over Time in Dementia Research with R Application

Friday, July 26: 1 – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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In this workshop, researchers and health professionals will have a practical review of advanced analytical methods commonly used in scientific articles to model change of continuous outcomes (i.e. cognitive scores, some measure of physical function) over time.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

NACC & AD Knowledge Portal: AD/ADRD Multimodal Data Workshop

Friday, July 26: 1 – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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In this workshop a dynamic overview of the opportunities for leveraging and integrating multimodal data to address pressing challenges in AD/ADRD will be explored. The workshop will begin with an overview of several existing data repositories in the AD/ADRD ecosystem. Attendees will then work in small teams to identify and outline research questions that are enabled by multimodal data and will pitch these ideas to a team of experts in the field.

Making Neuroimaging More Accessible to Diverse Populations: Challenges and Solutions

Friday, July 26: 1 – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This workshop will explore key challenges facing the field related to making brain imaging more accessible to socioeconomically, culturally, and geographically diverse populations. These areas would include health care policy, technology (software and hardware), trials/clinical application, sociocultural considerations, and language/education. It will include experts on dementia research in diverse populations, the role of health disparities in dementia, and the use of neuroimaging biomarkers.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

NIA: Examining Diversity, Recruitment, and Retention in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias Research

Friday, July 26: 1 – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This joint NIA-AA half-day workshop will provide an opportunity for those newly-established or long-standing research teams to have hands-on experience with accessing and utilizing tailored targeted research resources developed by research teams supported through the targeted NIA funding opportunity. This workshop will also include discussions and strategies on how to integrate effective strategies, health communications plans, and processes specific to each team's local community. A goal is to create a network of research teams that will return with new recruitment approaches and attempt modifications to their current systems of participant recruitment.

This preconference is organized in collaboration with the National Institute on Aging (NIA) as part of funding opportunity PAR-18-749.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Computational Interspecies Translation of Omics Signatures in Alzheimer's Disease

Friday, July 26: 1 – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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This workshop will deliver hands-on training using the most recent computational techniques and omics data resources to improve awareness and utility of integrating multi-scale data from model systems and humans to uncover the mechanistic drivers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this era of omics-driven research, interspecies alignment of disease relevant molecular signatures relies heavily on bioinformatics tools and field-specific data infrastructures. The goal of this workshop is to accelerate translational research in AD by training interested scientists on how to develop robust computational workflows for both hypothesis-driven and data-driven research strategies. The AD-specific, bespoke lessons will use resources from the AD Knowledge Portal.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

ADSP Phenotype Harmonization Consortium: Neuroimaging Harmonization and Application

Friday, July 26: 1 – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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The Alzheimer’s Disease Phenotype Harmonization (ADSP-PHC) was established to provide large-scale data harmonization across all the cohort studies in the ADSP to facilitate joint analysis of cognitive, neuroimaging, biomarker, risk factor, and neuroimaging outcomes. This workshop will provide a detailed overview of the image processing and statistical harmonization approaches that our expert neuroimaging data harmonization teams applied to calculate regional brain volumes across cohorts while dealing with the many differences in data acquisition hardware and software across sites. The workshop will include a live demonstration of NiChart software suites with a hands-on opportunity to access, analyze, and even apply these harmonization approaches in attendees’ own datasets.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Tips and Tools for Being Successful in Grant Submissions

Friday, July 26: 1 – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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Funding is a necessary aspect of moving your research or study forward. In this workshop, attendees will participate in a dynamic session with representatives from funding organizations, researchers/clinicians with active awards, and those who provide the peer-review expertise to share their tips, tools and real-world experiences in seeking funding. Funding agencies will share their insights, indispensable tools, and real-world experiences, providing attendees with a comprehensive understanding of the strategies that lead to successful funding acquisition.

This event is part of the ISTAART Immersives workshop series.

Technology and Dementia

Saturday, July 27: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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Technology and Dementia, a preconference to AAIC, will convene researchers and members of the industry interested in technology research and development, including mobile technology, home-based technology and social networking. Sessions explore various types of technologies as tools to support innovative study design in research and as interventions for persons living with dementia and their care partners. The program consists of invited speakers, as well as oral and poster presentations from submitted abstracts. A reception will follow for registered attendees.

This preconference is organized by the Technology and Dementia Professional Interest Area (PIA) of the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART).

Alzheimer’s Imaging Consortium (AIC)

Saturday, July 27: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Pennsylvania Convention Center
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The Alzheimer’s Imaging Consortium (AIC), a preconference to AAIC, will focus on the frontiers of neuroimaging of Alzheimer’s and other dementia. The program will focus on novel imaging techniques and analysis, how neuroimaging can drive discoveries in and improve understanding of the disease, and how these innovations can have an impact on clinical applications. The program consists of invited speakers, oral and poster presentations from submitted abstracts, a mentoring lunch for early career researchers, and a panel discussion. AIC brings together neuroimaging researchers from around the world and highlights the technical progress and recent innovations in neuroimaging that will enhance clinical applications of the future. A reception will follow for registered attendees.

This preconference is organized by the Neuroimaging Professional Interest Area (PIA) of the International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART).

ISTAART Professional Interest Area (PIA) Day

Saturday, July 27: 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
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Join ISTAART Professional Interest Areas (PIAs) for targeted sessions and exclusive networking opportunities. PIA Day is only open to current or new ISTAART members. Learn about ISTAART benefits and how to join.