DAY 2 – October 13, 2021

SESSION 7    KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

Does innate immunity contribute to neurodegenerative disease?

With Prof. Michael Heneka, MD, Director Department for Neurodegenerative Diseases – Neurology at the University Hospital Bonn DZNE Cooperation Unit Leader: Neuroinflammation

The accumulation of neurotoxic amyloid beta peptides along with neurofibrillary tangle formation are key pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. The brain has been considered as an immune-privileged organ, however, increasing evidence from translational, genetic, and pathological studies suggests that activation of distinct innate immune pathways are a third important disease hallmark which, once initiated, actively contributes to disease progression and chronicity.

Microglia play a pivotal role in this immune response and are activated by binding of aggregated proteins or aberrant nucleic acids to pattern recognition receptors. This immune activation leads to the release of inflammatory mediators, but also distracts microglia cells from their physiological functions and tasks, including debris clearance and trophic factor support. NLRP3 inflammasome activation and release of ASC specks contribute to spreading of pathology and impair microglia clearance mechanisms, and together contribute to neuronal spine loss, neuronal degeneration, and ultimately to spatial memory deficits. In keeping with this immune hypothesis of neurodegeneration, inhibition of this immune pathway protects from neurodegeneration in cellular and murine models of Alzheimer’s disease. Modulation of the microglia driven innate immune response at key signaling steps might therefore be protective and alter disease progression. However, the microglia are not a stable population, but have continuous turn over, most likely resulting in more than one generation of microglia being involved in disease progression. Moreover their turnover is increased in response to neurodegeneration. Along with the regional diversity of microglia, these phenomena need to be understood in more detail prior to targeting innate immune mechanisms for therapeutic purposes.

SESSION 8     INTERACTIVE SESSION ON PREVENTION

This session is an opportunity to learn about work taking place across different teams. It will allow to interact, discuss, and discover new potential collaborations and foster connectivity. This session includes five short presentations on research related to dementia Prevention by CCNA Members and Trainees. The presentations will be followed by a discussion with the audience.

1. An update on the Canadian Therapeutics Platform Trial for Testing Interventions to Prevent Dementia (CAN-THUMBS UP)
2. Preventing age-related cognitive decline: Brain Health Pro, a remote multidomain program with and for older adults and their communities
3. The problems of old age come as a package: relevance for dementia prevention
4. LEAD feasibility trial and the Brain Health Food Guide
5. PREVENT Study, prospective longitudinal cohort study in TIA patients and control subjects
6. Motor markers and gait variability for dementia prediction

SESSION 9     THE CCNA TRAINEE SYNAPSE AWARDS

Join the CCNA Training and Capacity Building Program and CCNA trainees for this exciting presentation of research proposals developed by CCNA trainees for the Synapse Challenge.

Trainees have been hard at work developing project proposals, so don’t miss this opportunity to show your support as they present to the Synapse Challenge Review Panel.

No recording is available.

SESSION 10      LIVE POSTER SESSION

BIOGRAPHIES

Michael Heneka studied medicine in Tübingen, Lausanne and London from 1990-1996. He obtained his medical degree at the Institute of Pharmacology for which he received the 1998 Attempto Award of the University of Tübingen. He started his clinical residency in neurology at the Dept. of Neurology of the Univ. of Tübingen in 1996 and joined the Dept. of Neurology at the University of Bonn in 1999. After his clinical board examination (2002) and habilitation (2003) he took the chair as professor for molecular neurology at the University of Münster in 2004. In 2008 he was appointed professor for clinical neurosciences at the University of Bonn heading the DFG Clinical Research Unit 177. Since 2010 Prof. Heneka has served as neurological director of the joint memory clinic of the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology. Beyond his research, Michael Heneka serves as Associate Editor of Neurology: Neuroinflammation & Neuroimmunology and editorial board member of Molecular Neurobiology, Journal of Neurochemistry and the Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy. He is the organizing chair of the biennial conference “Venusberg Meeting on Neuroinflammation”. In 2011 he received the Christa Lorenz Award for ALS Research and in 2013 the Hans und Ilse Breuer Award for Alzheimer Research.

Margaret Fahnestock received her Honours B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Stanford and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Following postdoctoral work in Endocrinology at Baylor and Neurobiology at Stanford, she moved to the Stanford Research Institute, where her team developed base-by-base DNA sequencing, the basis for today’s DNA sequencing machines. After a sabbatical in Neurology at UCSF, Dr. Fahnestock moved to McMaster University. She is now a Full Professor in McMaster’s Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences Department and co-Lead for CCNA Team 2. Dr. Fahnestock is internationally recognized for her work in neurotrophin regulation, expression and signalling. Her research focuses on neurotrophic factor biosynthesis and regulation, their receptors, and their roles in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders. She was the first to describe biologically active proNGF in the brain and its elevation in Alzheimer’s disease. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and has been funded continuously for over 35 years.

Howard Feldman, MD, FRCP(C) is a Neurologist and Professor in the Department of Neurosciences at UC San Diego. He serves as the Dean of Alzheimer’s Disease and Neurodegenerative Research and is the Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS). He is an Affiliate Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia. He serves as one of the Co-Principal Investigators of the CAN-THUMBS UP program within the CCNA. In his research, Dr. Feldman has made seminal contributions in the areas of mild cognitive impairment, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and diagnostic/therapeutic trials. He has contributed to the development and evolution of the clinical diagnostic framework of Alzheimer’s disease. He has lead numerous clinical trials across the spectrum of Alzheimer’s disease and has helped transform trial design and methods.

Dr. Haakon Nygaard is an Assistant Professor in Medicine (Neurology) at the University of British Columbia, and is dual board certified in Neurology and Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry. He currently serves as the director of UBCs Clinic for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders – the largest dedicated dementia specialty clinic in BC.

He completed neurology residency at Yale University, where he served as Chief Resident. Following completion of his clinical training he pursued a PhD in Investigative Medicine at Yale University where he developed expertise in basic and translational neuroscience. Dr. Nygaard’s clinical and research interests relate to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and neurodegenerative disorders. He is currently involved in numerous studies ranging from laboratory-based projects to clinical trials. He has been the lead investigator on several phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials, both nationally and internationally.

Kenneth Rockwood, MD, FRCPC, FRCP, is Professor of Medicine (Geriatric Medicine & Neurology) and the Kathryn Allen Weldon Professor of Alzheimer Research at Dalhousie University. A leading authority on frailty, he has key roles on numerous studies in Canada and elsewhere. Ken received his MD from Memorial University in St. John’s, NL, completed training in Internal Medicine at the University of Alberta, and in Geriatric Medicine from Dalhousie University

Judith Godin received her PhD in psychology from Carleton University in 2011. Following her PhD, she held a Mitacs Elevate postdoctoral fellowship in health services research at the University of Toronto during which time she developed a strong interest in quantitative methods and statistics. Afterwards, at the Nova Scotia Centre on Aging at Mount Saint Vincent University, she found herself drawn to the subjects of geriatrics and gerontology while working as a data analyst and subsequently as a postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Godin is currently part of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging team that investigates how multi-morbidity modifies the risk of dementia and the patterns of disease expression. Her work examines how social and behavioural factors, including employment and retirement, influence frailty and cognitive impairment.

Sylvie Belleville is Full professor at the Psychology Department of the University of Montreal and a researcher at the Research Center of the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal. She is recognized for her work in the area of cognitive training for older adults and persons at risk of dementia and on the prevention of age-related cognitive decline. She identified processes of compensation and plasticity in mild cognitive impairment using brain imaging techniques. She published 241 peer-reviewed articles. She currently holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair on the Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging and Brain Plasticity. She created and currently leads the Consortium for early identification of Alzheimer’s disease – Québec (CIMA-Q), co-leads the CCNA’s Team 10 – Cognitive Intervention, Cognitive Reserve and Brain Plasticity and directs the CCNA’s online educational intervention called “Brain Health Support Program” for CCNA. She is a Fellow of the prestigious Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Walter Wittich is an Associate Professor at the School of Optometry at the University of Montreal, in Canada. His research focuses on the rehabilitation of older adults with combined vision and hearing loss. Following his Master’s in Psychology (Concordia University) and a PhD in Visual Neuroscience (McGill University), he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in audiology at the University of Montreal. Coming from a background in age-related vision loss, he now conducts research in dual sensory impairment and acquired deaf-blindness. His research domains include basic sensory science, as well as medical, psychosocial, and rehabilitation approaches to sensory loss, in which he has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles. Walter is the inaugural chair of the Deafblind International Research Network, the chair of the Visual Impairment and Rehabilitation axis of the Quebec Vision Health Research Network, a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and Quebec’s first Certified Low Vision Therapist.

Noah Koblinsky is a clinical exercise physiologist and project coordinator at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and psychology from York University (2009) and a Masters in Kinesiology from Western University (2011) where his thesis work explored the effects of lifestyle interventions on cardiovascular health and cognition in older adults. Noah is the coordinator for CCNA Team 5’s Lifestyle, Exercise and Diet (LEAD) trial which studied the effects of a combined exercise and diet intervention in older adults with cardiovascular risk factors and early dementia risk. Noah’s other research interests include exercise interventions for stroke rehabilitation and the link between physical activity, cognition and gait.

Philip Barber  is a neurologist clinician-scientist. He completed his medical degree from the University of Sheffield, UK in 1991 and received his neurology training in Manchester, UK before starting a stroke fellowship with Alastair Buchan during the early days of the Calgary Stroke Program. It was during these exciting years of acute stroke treatment that produced a rich body of research culminating in the completion of a Doctorate of Medicine degree (PhD equivalent). Currently, he directs the Stroke Prevention Clinic at the University of Calgary, and is a member of Team 7 – Vascular illness and its impacts on neurodegenerative diseases of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA). He has participated as a committee member for a clinical update statement on Vascular Cognitive Impairment for the Canadian Consensus Conference on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia, 5^thEdition. His CIHR and Heart and Stroke Foundation-funded research program investigates stroke and vascular illness contributions to neurodegeneration (H index 45, 15532 citations Google scholar).

The major themes of Dr Barber’s research to date are the investigation of cerebral ischemia, infarct maturation and microcirculatory responses to ischemia with an emphasis on knowledge translation using animal models and clinical cohort studies. His research expertise includes biomarkers and MRI surrogates of cerebrovascular disease and neurodegeneration, MRI methods, longitudinal case control studies, cognition and behaviour. These techniques form the platform for multiple prospective cohort studies that include neuroimaging such as MRI and CT to measure brain blood flow, brain ischemic lesions, brain atrophy and brain amyloid deposits, as well as the fluid biomarkers of amyloid and tau measured in blood and cerebrospinal fluid with the objective of developing and validating better markers to determine the risk of cognitive decline.

Frederico Pieruccini-Faria has a major in Physical Education, Master’s degree in Kinesiology-Human Movement Science, a PhD in Psychology (cognitive neuroscience), and Postdoctoral studies in Geriatric Medicine at Western University, Canada. Over the last 10 years he has investigated the intertwined relationship between obstacle negotiation capabilities, cognitive performance and risk of falls in older adults with neurodegenerative disorders. Currently, he investigates the usefulness of gait variability as an earlier marker of pathological brain changes, cognitive impairment and dementia, across neurodegenerative diseases.