The global AAIC Neuroscience Next 2026 Conference showcases the latest contributions from both early career and established researchers in neuroscience and dementia.
The Manchester UK Hub will host a full in person day that brings together researchers at all stages, students and clinicians for presentations, discussion and networking, alongside livestreamed sessions from the central programme.
The Manchester Hub will focus on biomarkers across multiple domains including cognitive assessments, physiology, imaging, fluid based measures and technology.
Register to Attend
AAIC Neuroscience Next Programme
| Registration
Register on arrival on the first floor. |
08.00 to 08.25 |
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| Welcome and opening
Welcome and an overview of the day from Professor Paul Morgan, UK Dementia Research Institute, Cardiff University |
08.25 to 08.30 |
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| Cognitive assessments
Session chairs:
Dr Rhian Convery, University College London and
Viktorija Smith, University of Cambridge
Senior plenary
Professor Masud Husain
New methods and insights for assessing cognition in research and clinical settings.
ECR plenary
Dr Chloe Fawns Ritchie
Remote cognitive assessment: investigating the impact of device type on cognitive test performance.
Lightning talks
- Dr Laura Stankeviciute, Associations between plasma biomarkers and digital cognition for preclinical Alzheimer’s disease in the population based REAL AD study.
- Toya Pauwels Romero, Performance on gene specific cognitive composites GENFI Cog in the Genetic Frontotemporal dementia GENFI study.
- Dr Kirsty Lu, Associations between biomarkers of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease at age 70 and cognitive performance over the subsequent 7 years.
- Dr Alexander Kaula, Novel PAL RT measures: development, clustering, association with plasma P tau217.
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08.30 to 09.30 |
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| Physiological and behavioural biomarkers
Session chairs:
Kalliopi Mavromati, University of Glasgow & Rebecca Egerton, Queen’s University Belfast
Senior plenary
Dr Francesca Cormack
Digital technology to capture what matters in the real word.
ECR plenary
Dr Thomas Wilcockson
Eye movement tasks can predict cognitive decline in preclinical stages of dementia.
Lightning talks
- Christine Weaver, Acoustic speech analysis and machine learning in the diagnosis and monitoring of neurodegenerative disorders.
- Dr Matt Bancroft, Gait in atypical dementia: a comparison between posterior cortical atrophy, Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body disease.
- Dr Kiran K G Ravindran, Extracting essential sleep aspects from consumer sleep technologies in older adults and people living with dementia.
- Dr George Devitt, Holistic optical biomarkers to transform dementia diagnosis HOpE.
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09.30 to 10.30 |
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| Neuroimaging
Session chairs:
Dr Michael Stringer, The University of Edinburgh and
Dr Darragh Patrick O’Brien, University of Oxford
Senior plenary
Professor David Cash
Exploring the latest research and advances in imaging techniques and their application to dementia and related disorders.
ECR plenary
Dr Andreia Rocha
Tracking tau spread: MK6240 assigns higher Braak stages than Flortaucipir.
Lightning talks
- Harry Crook, TSPO PET binding in white versus grey matter in FTLD.
- Lorenzo Barcellos, Brain atrophy patterns associate with biological staging defined by PET in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.
- Grace Gillis, Added value of UK Biobank aligned multimodal MRI in a real world memory clinic setting.
- Dr Fatemeh Tabassi Mofrad, Volumetric biomarkers in subcortical structures for dementia detection.
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11.00 to 12.00 |
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| Fluid biomarkers
This session will be streamed as part of the main AAIC international programming.
Session chair:
Dr Amanda Heslegrave, University College London
Senior plenary
Dr Marc Suarez Calvet
Exploring the latest in fluid biomarkers, to diagnose dementias.
Lightning talks
- Ellie Crispin, Measuring Nptx1 in extracellular vesicles from genetic frontotemporal dementia mutation carriers.
- Dr Sonia Wagner Reguero, Linking seeding to pathology: insights from α synuclein RT QuIC in postmortem CSF.
- Hanjun Zhao, Plasma proteomic signatures of Alzheimer’s neuropathology: insights from Bio Hermes study.
- Dr Sujin Kang, Organ specific proteomic aging and cognitive performance.
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13.00 to 14.00 |
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| AAIC Neuroscience Next awards presentation
Presented by Dr Oz Ismail.
Excellence in Neuroscience Mentoring award and One to Watch award. |
14.00 to 15.00 |
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| Refreshments
Refreshments served. |
15.15 to 15.30 |
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| Technology biomarkers
Exploring emerging tools and technologies that support measurement, diagnosis and monitoring.
Session chairs:
Dr Ria Kodosaki, University College London and
Dr Mosi Li, The University of Edinburgh
Senior plenary
Dr Cynthia Sandor
Exploring emerging tools and technologies that support measurement, diagnosis and monitoring.
ECR plenary
Dr Lukas Hughes Noehrer
From prototype to practice: technology to support stimulation needs in dementia care
Lightning talks
- Dr Zeke Steer, Smart Socks gathering data to inform research, diagnosis and disease
- Labhpreet Kaur, Automatic analysis of informant based collateral information for dementia detection: a large language model study
- Luna Nordenström, Online keyboard tapping as a digital biomarker for early frontotemporal dementia
- Dr Ahmet Begde, Digital cognition plus plasma P tau217 and aβ42 40 predict Alzheimer’s progression
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15.30 to 16.30 |
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| All biomarkers panel discussion
Chair:
Professor Selina Wray, University College London
Panel: Professor Masud Husain, Dr Francesca Cormack, Professor David Cash, Dr Marc Suarez Calvet, Dr Cynthia Sandor
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16.30 to 17.00 |
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| Closing and local prizes
Poster award, Lightning talk award, The showstopper award. |
17.00 to 17.15 |
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Register to Attend
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