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AAIC 2026 London: Podcast Conference Highlights

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AAIC 2026 London: Podcast Conference Highlights

Four days. Four podcasts. One very busy week at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC 2026).

Throughout the Alzheimer’s Association® International Conference, we were joined by researchers and dementia professionals from around the world to share the science, conversations and moments that caught their attention each day.

Across our four daily highlights podcasts, Adam Smith hosted:

🎙️ Dr Sarah Graef and Dr Muthia Huda Islami
🎙️ Nathania Nathania, Dr Arezoo Talebzadeh and Dr Suelyn Koerich
🎙️ Cari Randa-Beaulieu and Abrar AbuHamdia
🎙️ Dr Niying Li, Dr Natasha Anita and Lillian Morgado

Together, we covered major research announcements, new approaches to diagnosis and treatment, emerging researchers and the experience of attending one of the world’s largest dementia research conferences.

If you could not attend AAIC, or simply couldn’t keep up with everything happening across the programme these four episodes will help you catch up.

A huge thank you to all 10 guests for sharing their time, perspectives and conference highlights with us.

For more on where the field goes next, including blood biomarkers and p-tau217, hear four specialists debate what will change the course of dementia.

🎧 Watch or listen to all four episodes:


In this episode, we share highlights from the fourth day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

Adam Smith chats with Dr Niying Li, Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia; Dr Natasha Anita, a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital; and Lillian Morgado, Research Coordinator at Georgia State University.

The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research to share their work, theories and breakthroughs while exploring opportunities to accelerate work and elevate careers.

Key topics

- The practical barriers to delivering new anti-amyloid treatments
- Rural and international inequalities in access to diagnosis and care
- What p-tau217 could tell us about future cognitive decline
- Promising results from new tau-targeting therapies
- Behavioural and personality changes as possible early signs of neurodegeneration
- Women’s brain health, inflammation and Alzheimer’s risk
- The ethical and legal questions surrounding biomarker disclosure
- Why research must include more countries and underrepresented populations

Find out more about the conference at https://aaic.alz.org/ and on social media with #AAIC26 @alzassociation 

Note: We apologise for issues with the sound quality in the first part of this recording.
--

Follow us on social media:

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https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
https://www.bsky.app/profile/dementiare…archer.bsky.social
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Chapters

00:00 Introduction to AIC 2026 and Conference Overview
01:17 Meet the Researchers: Highlights from Day 4
04:42 Barriers to Anti-Amyloid Therapy in High-Poverty States
10:12 Advances in MRI Protocols for Donanemab
15:02 Economic Models for Alzheimer's Care in Ireland and US
17:00 Dementia Knowledge and Attitudes in Kenya
23:09 Emerging Research on Behavioral Changes in Aging
25:37 Neuroinflammation and Gender Differences in Alzheimer's
32:44 PTau Levels and Risk Prediction for Cognitive Decline
33:00 Success in Tau Drug Trials
40:03 Ethical Considerations in Biomarker Disclosure
47:37 Disparities in Mortality and Regional Differences
53:21 Research on Underrepresented Groups and Minority Populations
55:10 Conference Themes: Innovation, Equity, and Future Directions

In this episode, we share highlights from the fourth day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

Adam Smith chats with Dr Niying Li, Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia; Dr Natasha Anita, a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital; and Lillian Morgado, Research Coordinator at Georgia State University.

The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research to share their work, theories and breakthroughs while exploring opportunities to accelerate work and elevate careers.

Key topics

- The practical barriers to delivering new anti-amyloid treatments
- Rural and international inequalities in access to diagnosis and care
- What p-tau217 could tell us about future cognitive decline
- Promising results from new tau-targeting therapies
- Behavioural and personality changes as possible early signs of neurodegeneration
- Women’s brain health, inflammation and Alzheimer’s risk
- The ethical and legal questions surrounding biomarker disclosure
- Why research must include more countries and underrepresented populations

Find out more about the conference at https://aaic.alz.org/ and on social media with #AAIC26 @alzassociation

Note: We apologise for issues with the sound quality in the first part of this recording.
--

Follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/
https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
https://www.bsky.app/profile/dementiare…archer.bsky.social
--

Download and Register with our Community App:
https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to AIC 2026 and Conference Overview
01:17 Meet the Researchers: Highlights from Day 4
04:42 Barriers to Anti-Amyloid Therapy in High-Poverty States
10:12 Advances in MRI Protocols for Donanemab
15:02 Economic Models for Alzheimer's Care in Ireland and US
17:00 Dementia Knowledge and Attitudes in Kenya
23:09 Emerging Research on Behavioral Changes in Aging
25:37 Neuroinflammation and Gender Differences in Alzheimer's
32:44 PTau Levels and Risk Prediction for Cognitive Decline
33:00 Success in Tau Drug Trials
40:03 Ethical Considerations in Biomarker Disclosure
47:37 Disparities in Mortality and Regional Differences
53:21 Research on Underrepresented Groups and Minority Populations
55:10 Conference Themes: Innovation, Equity, and Future Directions

7 4

YouTube Video UExMdDB2NDVoUmlMcy41NkI0NEY2RDEwNTU3Q0M2

Highlights from the Alzheimer's Association International Conference AAIC - Day Four 2026

In this episode, we share highlights from the third day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

Adam Smith chats with Cari Randa-Beaulieu, Provincial Coordinator, Knowledge Mobilization at the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia and Yukon; and Abrar AbuHamdia, a PhD candidate at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.

The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research to share their work, theories and breakthroughs while exploring opportunities to accelerate work and elevate careers.

Key topics

- Alzheimer's disease subtypes and precision medicine
- Biomarkers and diagnostic accuracy in dementia
- Microglia and neuroinflammation therapies
- Global efforts in brain health promotion
- Co-design and lived experience in research

Find out more about the conference at https://aaic.alz.org/ and on social media with #AAIC26

Note: We apologise for issues with the sound quality in the first part of this recording.
--

Follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/
https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
https://www.bsky.app/profile/dementiare…archer.bsky.social
--

Download and Register with our Community App:
https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support
--

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the conference and speakers
01:21 Researcher backgrounds and motivations
06:50 Caregiving, policy, and economic impacts
12:15 Advances in neurobiological research and biomarkers
16:52 Understanding Alzheimer's subtypes and heterogeneity
19:10 Innovative therapies and microglia research
21:12 Global efforts in brain health promotion
26:51 ADHD and cognitive aging
29:34 Art, storytelling, and intergenerational support
36:27 AI in amyloid scan classification
38:31 Brain organoids and early disease mechanisms
40:25 Future directions and closing remarks

In this episode, we share highlights from the third day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

Adam Smith chats with Cari Randa-Beaulieu, Provincial Coordinator, Knowledge Mobilization at the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia and Yukon; and Abrar AbuHamdia, a PhD candidate at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.

The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research to share their work, theories and breakthroughs while exploring opportunities to accelerate work and elevate careers.

Key topics

- Alzheimer's disease subtypes and precision medicine
- Biomarkers and diagnostic accuracy in dementia
- Microglia and neuroinflammation therapies
- Global efforts in brain health promotion
- Co-design and lived experience in research

Find out more about the conference at https://aaic.alz.org/ and on social media with #AAIC26

Note: We apologise for issues with the sound quality in the first part of this recording.
--

Follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/
https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
https://www.bsky.app/profile/dementiare…archer.bsky.social
--

Download and Register with our Community App:
https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support
--

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the conference and speakers
01:21 Researcher backgrounds and motivations
06:50 Caregiving, policy, and economic impacts
12:15 Advances in neurobiological research and biomarkers
16:52 Understanding Alzheimer's subtypes and heterogeneity
19:10 Innovative therapies and microglia research
21:12 Global efforts in brain health promotion
26:51 ADHD and cognitive aging
29:34 Art, storytelling, and intergenerational support
36:27 AI in amyloid scan classification
38:31 Brain organoids and early disease mechanisms
40:25 Future directions and closing remarks

4 3

YouTube Video UExMdDB2NDVoUmlMcy4yODlGNEE0NkRGMEEzMEQy

Highlights from the Alzheimer's Association International Conference AAIC - Day Three 2026

In this episode, we share highlights from the second day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

Adam Smith chats with Nathania from Universitas Airlangga in Indonesia, Dr Arezoo Talebzadeh from Ghent University in Belgium, and Dr Suelyn Koerich from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research to share their work, theories and breakthroughs while exploring opportunities to accelerate work and elevate careers.

Key topics

- Anti-amyloid immunotherapies and personalised medicine
- Cultural sensitivity in dementia assessment
- The role of environment and architecture in dementia care
- Neuroinflammation and neuroprotective factors
- Biomarker validation and minimally invasive testing
- Impact of social determinants on dementia risk
- Soundscape and sensory health in dementia management

Find out more about the conference at https://aaic.alz.org/ and on social media with #AAIC26 @alzassociation

A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk
--

Follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/
https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
https://www.bsky.app/profile/dementiare…archer.bsky.social
--

Download and Register with our Community App:
https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support
--

Chapters

0:00 Intro to the AAIC 2026 daily highlights
1:05 Introductions: Nathanya, Arezoo, and Su Lin
5:05 Designing for inclusion and community trust in research
10:49 Centenarians, cognitive resilience, and protective factors
15:05 Anti-amyloid therapies and eligibility challenges
18:19 Climate change, war, migration, and dementia assessment
23:18 Latin American perspectives on dementia prevalence
31:34 Astrogliosis, amyloid, and cognitive decline
34:15 Social determinants of health and national brain health programs
37:12 Soundscape research and dementia care
42:57 Mapping auditory processing to target soundscape intervention
46:52 Capillary blood sampling and neurological biomarkers
49:27 US POINTER and lifestyle interventions for brain health
52:29 Closing remarks and conference wrap-up

In this episode, we share highlights from the second day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

Adam Smith chats with Nathania from Universitas Airlangga in Indonesia, Dr Arezoo Talebzadeh from Ghent University in Belgium, and Dr Suelyn Koerich from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research to share their work, theories and breakthroughs while exploring opportunities to accelerate work and elevate careers.

Key topics

- Anti-amyloid immunotherapies and personalised medicine
- Cultural sensitivity in dementia assessment
- The role of environment and architecture in dementia care
- Neuroinflammation and neuroprotective factors
- Biomarker validation and minimally invasive testing
- Impact of social determinants on dementia risk
- Soundscape and sensory health in dementia management

Find out more about the conference at https://aaic.alz.org/ and on social media with #AAIC26 @alzassociation

A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk
--

Follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/
https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
https://www.bsky.app/profile/dementiare…archer.bsky.social
--

Download and Register with our Community App:
https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support
--

Chapters

0:00 Intro to the AAIC 2026 daily highlights
1:05 Introductions: Nathanya, Arezoo, and Su Lin
5:05 Designing for inclusion and community trust in research
10:49 Centenarians, cognitive resilience, and protective factors
15:05 Anti-amyloid therapies and eligibility challenges
18:19 Climate change, war, migration, and dementia assessment
23:18 Latin American perspectives on dementia prevalence
31:34 Astrogliosis, amyloid, and cognitive decline
34:15 Social determinants of health and national brain health programs
37:12 Soundscape research and dementia care
42:57 Mapping auditory processing to target soundscape intervention
46:52 Capillary blood sampling and neurological biomarkers
49:27 US POINTER and lifestyle interventions for brain health
52:29 Closing remarks and conference wrap-up

5 1

YouTube Video UExMdDB2NDVoUmlMcy4wMTcyMDhGQUE4NTIzM0Y5

Highlights from the Alzheimer's Association International Conference AAIC - Day Two 2026

In this episode, we share highlights from the first day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

Adam Smith chats with Sarah Graef from Rush University Medical Center and Muthia Huda Islami from the National Brain Centre Hospital Mahar Mardjono in Jakarta.

The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research to share their work, theories and breakthroughs while exploring opportunities to accelerate work and elevate careers.

Key topics

- Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease
- Genetic epidemiology in diverse populations
- Lifestyle interventions and dementia prevention
- Innovative drug delivery methods for neurodegenerative diseases
- Global research collaborations and underrepresented populations

Find out more about the conference at https://aaic.alz.org/ and on social media with #AAIC26 @alzassociation

A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk
--

Follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/
https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
https://www.bsky.app/profile/dementiare…archer.bsky.social
--

Download and Register with our Community App:
https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support
--

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to AAIC 2026 and Conference Highlights
07:19 Biomarkers and Trajectories in Alzheimer's Disease
12:23 Brain Aging and Environmental Exposures
24:18 Genetic Diversity and Disparities in Dementia Risk
33:44 Innovative Research and Future Directions in Dementia Treatment

In this episode, we share highlights from the first day of the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

Adam Smith chats with Sarah Graef from Rush University Medical Center and Muthia Huda Islami from the National Brain Centre Hospital Mahar Mardjono in Jakarta.

The AAIC brings together researchers from all areas of research to share their work, theories and breakthroughs while exploring opportunities to accelerate work and elevate careers.

Key topics

- Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease
- Genetic epidemiology in diverse populations
- Lifestyle interventions and dementia prevention
- Innovative drug delivery methods for neurodegenerative diseases
- Global research collaborations and underrepresented populations

Find out more about the conference at https://aaic.alz.org/ and on social media with #AAIC26 @alzassociation

A transcript of this show, links and show notes and profile on all our guests are available on our website at https://www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk
--

Follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/dementia_researcher/
https://www.facebook.com/Dementia.Researcher/
https://www.twitter.com/demrescommunity
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dementia-researcher
https://www.bsky.app/profile/dementiare…archer.bsky.social
--

Download and Register with our Community App:
https://www.onelink.to/dementiaresearcher

Leave us a tip:
https://dementia-researcher.captivate.fm/support
--

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to AAIC 2026 and Conference Highlights
07:19 Biomarkers and Trajectories in Alzheimer's Disease
12:23 Brain Aging and Environmental Exposures
24:18 Genetic Diversity and Disparities in Dementia Risk
33:44 Innovative Research and Future Directions in Dementia Treatment

4 3

YouTube Video UExMdDB2NDVoUmlMcy41MjE1MkI0OTQ2QzJGNzNG

Highlights from the Alzheimer's Association International Conference AAIC - Day One 2026


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