An invitation-only workshop jointly organized by UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) Neuroscience Research Institute and the MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering (LFE).
Meeting Co-Hosts: Miyoung Chun, World Without Alzheimer’s; Professor Kenneth S. Kosik, UCSB; and Professor Andrew W. Lo, LFE
Dates: October 11-13, 2018
Location: Wequassett Resort, 2173 Route 28, Harwich, MA
This invitation-only meeting will dive deeper into the issues raised at the meeting on February 1, 2018 at UCSB. It will bring together a multi-disciplinary group of key stakeholders and thought leaders with the goal of identifying actionable next steps for addressing the main obstacles currently facing Alzheimer’s research and therapeutic development.
As big pharma companies continue to shut down Alzheimer’s programs in the face of one clinical failure after another, the global burden of Alzheimer’s disease is only growing. To make genuine progress in Alzheimer’s research and therapeutics, we must find a way to take “multiple shots on goal,” which will be possible only by obtaining much greater funding than is currently available to support the Alzheimer’s field. Our first meeting in Santa Barbara built great momentum toward this objective.
The goal for this second meeting is to generate a clear path forward with actionable road maps for implementation. To achieve this goal, we intend to capture the “lay of the land” of Alzheimer’s scientific research from which we can develop ambitious but realistic objectives and devise new business models, if necessary.
We will seek various expert opinions in the months leading up to October and will assemble content that will be vetted and refined by all meeting participants. Key areas of interest include:
- Basic science and identifying targets
- Applied science and clinical development
- New business and financing structures
- Outreach, e.g., engaging with patient advocates and marketing/communications
We expect that this meeting will be a catalyst for transformation by producing detailed, concrete, and actionable plans for making real progress in addressing Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, we expect that new connections will be forged among the diverse set of participants, providing an avenue for continued collaboration and implementation of the ideas presented.