The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) announced that it will collaborate with health systems in Germany, the U.K., Japan, the U.S., and the Netherlands to leverage blood biomarkers and confirmatory diagnostic testing to for early identification of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). The goal of the Accurate Diagnosis project is to enable healthcare providers to use assays that are typically used today in the research settings only for regular clinical practice.
According to DAC, the program will accelerate the translation of validated tools and assays from the research setting for the care of ADRD patients.
“The DAC Healthcare System Preparedness team is eager to build and share learnings during the next phase of implementing these critical triaging tools,” said Tim MacLeod, director of DAC Healthcare System Preparedness. “This project expands the learnings from our previous program on early detection of cognitive impairment to ensure an increasing number of Alzheimer’s disease patients receive the right care, at the right time.”
The 18-month project will bring site leaders together as a broader community of practice to share insights and to collaborate to solve common challenges of the early identification of Alzheimer’s disease and its accurate diagnosis. Using the learning for the participating health system, DAC will prepare the DAC-SP Early Detection Blueprint to serve as a guide for other health systems looking to adopt their approach.
According to George Vradenburg, founding chairman of DAC, the learnings will help the collaborative further its global efforts to address the readiness of health systems for the world’s aging population. “We are committed to advancing timely diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in all resource settings, in every country, thus leveraging learnings for the benefit of all,” Vradenburg said. “The Accurate Diagnosis project will help catalyze healthcare system change and will make patient-centered care and support more widely accessible.”
Participating sites for the project are:
- The University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center;
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai;
- Wake Forest University School of Medicine;
- Alzheimer Center Amsterdam at Amsterdam UMC;
- Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust:
- Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) Hospital Munich – Alzheimer’s Therapy and Research Center; and
- Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology.
The systems were selected based on broad criteria including scientific and clinical capabilities, the ability to reach patients of all ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds, education levels, socioeconomic status, and geographic settings. In addition DAC has secured commercial partnerships who will provide contributions of blood biomarker testing and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assays. Partners include C2N and Quanterix for blood biomarkers and Fujirebio and Roche which will provide both blood biomarker and CSF assays.
The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, was launched in 2021 by the World Economic Forum and the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease. Its goal is to drive efforts worldwide to cure Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, similar to other global efforts against infectious disease like HIV/AIDS, COVID, and malaria. As a global effort, DAC is extending research efforts to areas of non-Western European ethnic populations, in the Global South, which is where the majority of people with AD live. Its goal is to develop lower-cost testing tools and new treatments and prevention methods that can be applied globally in all healthcare settings for diverse populations.
