VJDementia Podcast

This World Alzheimer’s Day special features Suzanne Schindler, MD, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, who discusses the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Prof. Schindler speaks about barriers to early diagnosis, how primary care and specialists can work together to reduce diagnostic delays, the role of blood-based biomarkers, and the importance of identifying candidates for amyloid-targeting therapies early.

In this episode of the VJDementia podcast, we’ll be discussing recent advances in the development of neflamapimod for the treatment of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Neflamapimod has shown encouraging results in the Phase II RewinD-LB trial (NCT05869669), and its clinical development is now progressing toward Phase III. The agent was recently granted Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) designation in the UK for DLB, aiming to accelerate the route to market and patient access. You will hear from James Galvin, MD, MPH, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, on the key data from the RewinD-LB trial, and Jacqui Cannon, CEO of The Lewy Body Society, on the impact of the ILAP designation.

This podcast episode explores emerging therapeutic strategies for dementia that extend beyond traditional amyloid- and tau-targeted approaches. Hussein Yassine, MD, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, discusses APOE-directed therapies, followed by Pamela Maher, PhD, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, CA, who speaks about the development and Phase I (NCT05318040) findings on CMS121, a fisetin derivative. Sharon Sha, MD, MS, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA, discusses PDE5 inhibitors, including Phase II findings and the ongoing Phase III POLARIS-AD (NCT05531526) study evaluating mirodenafil. Finally, James Galvin, MD, MPH, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, shares findings from a Phase II trial (NCT05869669) investigating neflamapimod in dementia with Lewy bodies.

Anti-amyloid antibodies are the first disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD), with two agents—lecanemab and donanemab—now fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This podcast features experts Paulo Caramelli, MD, PhD, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Stephen P. Salloway, MD, MS, Butler Hospital & Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, Suzanne Schindler, MD, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, and Dorota Religa, MD, PhD, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden, who discuss the practical considerations when using these therapies. The discussion explores pivotal clinical trial findings, appropriate use recommendations, the management of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), and patients who may not be eligible for these treatments.

Welcome to the VJSounds podcast, presented by the Video Journal of Dementia. In this episode, we dive into the latest advancements in Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers, focusing on the diagnostic and predictive potential of plasma p-tau217. As an alternative to traditional PET assessment, blood-based biomarker detection has the potential to provide a time-efficient, cost-effective strategy for pre-screening and treatment monitoring in AD clinical trials. Although the widespread use of blood-based biomarkers in clinical practice remains to be seen, they also hold promise in expediting diagnostic/prognostic procedures for AD. In this episode, we are joined by renowned researchers who discuss their work to test and validate p-tau217, both as a tool for clinical trials and for use in daily practice.  With Marco Bucci, PhD, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Suzanne Schindler, MD, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; Pamela Lukasewicz Ferreira, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; and Lyduine Collij, PhD, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

In today’s episode, we hear from top researchers studying the retina as a window to the Alzheimer's brain. Hear the latest on retinal biomarkers, the development of a diagnostic 'eye test' for Alzheimer's disease, and the promise of retina organoids for novel drug development.  With Frederique Hart de Ruyter, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Mourad Tayebi, Western Sydney University; & Natalia Vergara, University of Colorado.

In this episode, VJDementia are joined by Amy Lloyd, PhD, Soyon Hong, PhD, João Pedro Ferrari-Souza, MD-PhD student, & Elina Svensson, PhD student, who share their work looking at the roles of microglia in health and disease, and the implications of this for understanding how to treat Alzheimer's disease. Discussing TREM2 therapeutic targeting, the role of APOE4 in microglial reactivity, proteomic profiling, & what causes microglia to destroy functional synapses in disease.

On January 6, 2023, the US FDA approved lecanemab for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), making history as the first ever treatment to significantly slow cognitive decline. Despite the excitement surrounding this breakthrough approval, concerns remain regarding the extent of lecanemab's clinical benefit and the risks involved with its use. In this episode, experts delve review the evidence, reflecting on the performance of lecanemab and future directions for anti-amyloid therapies.

In this episode, specialists discuss the associations between diet and cognitive, and give insights on the implications that their research could have for dementia prevention. The topics up for discussion this week include: high intake of ultra-processed food associated with cognitive decline, intermittent fasting in Alzheimer’s disease, omega-3 in the prevention of dementia in APOE4 carriers, and the REACTION trial assessing a multi-nutrient drink for age-related cognitive decline.

In this episode, our expert guests will discuss their work on the discovery and validation of promising new biomarkers for monitoring, prognostication, and clinical trial outcomes. Novel markers beyond the classical measures of plasma amyloid and phosphorylated tau will be discussed, including TREM2, neurofilament light, retinal imaging, and blood-brain barrier leakage.