Advancements in dementia research, diagnostics, and care in Latin America: Highlights from the 2023 Alzheimer's Association International conference satellite symposium in Mexico City

Ana Luisa Sosa; Sonia Md Brucki; Lucia Crivelli; Francisco Javier Lopera; Daisy M Acosta; Juliana Acosta-Uribe; Diego Aguilar; Sara G Aguilar-Navarro; Ricardo F Allegri; Paulo Hf Bertolucci; Ismael L Calandri; Maria C Carrillo; Patricio Alexis Chrem Mendez; Mario Cornejo-Olivas; Nilton Custodio; Andrés Damian; Leonardo Cruz de Souza; Claudia Duran-Aniotz; Adolfo M García; Carmen García-Peña; Mitzi M Gonzales; Lea T Grinberg; Agustin M Ibanez; Maryenela Zaida Illanes-Manrique; Clifford R Jack Jr; Jorge Mario Leon-Salas; Jorge J Llibre-Guerra; José Luna-Muñoz; Diana Matallana; Bruce L Miller; Lorina Naci; Mario A Parra; Margaret Pericak-Vance; Stefanie D Piña-Escudero; Elisa de Paula França Resende; John M Ringman; Gustavo Sevlever; Andrea Slachevsky; Claudia Kimie Suemoto; Victor Valcour; Andres Villegas-Lanau; Mônica S Yassuda; Simin Mahinrad; Claire Sexton

doi:10.1002/alz.13850

Advancements in dementia research, diagnostics, and care in Latin America: Highlights from the 2023 Alzheimer's Association International conference satellite symposium in Mexico City

Alzheimers Dement. 2024 May 27. doi: 10.1002/alz.13850. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ana Luisa Sosa^#¹, Sonia Md Brucki^#², Lucia Crivelli^#³, Francisco Javier Lopera^#⁴, Daisy M Acosta⁵, Juliana Acosta-Uribe^{4

6}, Diego Aguilar⁷, Sara G Aguilar-Navarro⁸, Ricardo F Allegri^{9

10}, Paulo Hf Bertolucci¹¹, Ismael L Calandri³, Maria C Carrillo¹², Patricio Alexis Chrem Mendez¹³, Mario Cornejo-Olivas^{14

15}, Nilton Custodio^{16

17}, Andrés Damian¹⁸, Leonardo Cruz de Souza^{19

20}, Claudia Duran-Aniotz^{21

22}, Adolfo M García^{21

23

24

25}, Carmen García-Peña²⁶, Mitzi M Gonzales^{27

28}, Lea T Grinberg^{29

30}, Agustin M Ibanez^{21

23

31

32

33}, Maryenela Zaida Illanes-Manrique^{14

15

23}, Clifford R Jack Jr³⁴, Jorge Mario Leon-Salas³⁵, Jorge J Llibre-Guerra^{36

37}, José Luna-Muñoz^{38

39

40}, Diana Matallana^{41

42

43}, Bruce L Miller^{23

44}, Lorina Naci^{31

45}, Mario A Parra⁴⁶, Margaret Pericak-Vance^{47

48}, Stefanie D Piña-Escudero^{23

31

44}, Elisa de Paula França Resende^{23

31

49}, John M Ringman⁵⁰, Gustavo Sevlever⁵¹, Andrea Slachevsky^{52

53

54

55}, Claudia Kimie Suemoto⁵⁶, Victor Valcour⁵⁷, Andres Villegas-Lanau⁴, Mônica S Yassuda^{2

58}, Simin Mahinrad¹², Claire Sexton¹²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratorio de Demencias del Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía Manuel Velasco Suárez, Mexico City, CDMX, México.
² Department of Neurology, Cognitive and Behavioral Group, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
³ Department of Cognitive Neurology, Fleni, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
⁴ Grupo de Neurociencias (GNA), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
⁵ Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena (UNPHU), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
⁶ Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
⁷ Alzheimer's Disease International, London, UK.
⁸ Department of Geriatrics, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubiran, México, CDMX, Mexico.
⁹ Instituto de Neurociencias, Fleni, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
¹⁰ Department of Neurosciences, Universidad de la Costa CUC, Barranquilla, Colombia.
¹¹ Neurology & Neurosurgery Department, Escola Paulista de Medicina/UNIFESP, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
¹² Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
¹³ Memory Center, Fleni, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
¹⁴ Neurogenetics Working Group, Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, Peru.
¹⁵ Neurogenetics Research Center, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurologicas, Lima, Peru.
¹⁶ Unidad de Diagnóstico de Deterioro Cognitivo y Prevención de Demencia, Instituto Peruano de Neurociencias, Lima, Peru.
¹⁷ Escuela Profesional de Medicina Humana, Universidad Privada San Juan Bautista, Lima, Peru.
¹⁸ Departamento de Montevideo, Centro Uruguayo de Imagenología Molecular (CUDIM) and Unidad Académica de Medicina Nuclear e Imagenología Molecular, Hospital de Clínicas, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.
¹⁹ Programa de Pós-Graduação em Neurociências, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
²⁰ Departamento de Clínica Médica da Faculdade de Medicina da UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
²¹ Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago, Chile.
²² Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN), School of Psychology, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago, Chile.
²³ Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), University of California San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California, USA.
²⁴ Cognitive Neuroscience Center, Universidad de San Andrés, Victoria, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
²⁵ Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
²⁶ Instituto Nacional de Geriatría, México, CDMX, Mexico.
²⁷ Department of Neurology, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
²⁸ Glenn Biggs Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
²⁹ Department of Neurology and Pathology, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California, USA.
³⁰ Department of Pathology, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
³¹ Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), University of Trinity Dublin, Lloyd Building Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
³² Cognitive Neuroscience Center (CNC), Universidad de San Andrés, and CONICET, Victoria, Argentina.
³³ Trinity College Dublin (TCD), College Green, Dublin, Ireland.
³⁴ Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
³⁵ Departamento de Investigación Clínica, Life Science Research Institute, Hospital Clinica Biblica, San José, Costa Rica.
³⁶ Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network Trials Unit, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
³⁷ Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine in St.Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
³⁸ Banco Nacional de Cerebros-UNPHU, Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
³⁹ National Dementia BioBank, Dirección de Investigación, Innovación y Posgrado, Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca, Zempoala, México.
⁴⁰ Federación Mexicana de Alzheimer (FEDMA), México, CDMX, Mexico.
⁴¹ Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Medical School, Aging Institute, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Bogotá, Colombia.
⁴² Memory and Cognition Center, Intellectus, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Bogotá, Colombia.
⁴³ Mental Health Department, Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe, Bogotá, Colombia.
⁴⁴ Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California, USA.
⁴⁵ Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin, Ireland.
⁴⁶ Department of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
⁴⁷ John P Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA.
⁴⁸ Dr. John T Macdonald Foundation, Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Coral Gables, Florida, USA.
⁴⁹ Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina Ciências Médicas de Minas Gerais, Hospital das Clínicas - EBSERH-UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
⁵⁰ Department of Neurology, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
⁵¹ Department of Neuropathology, Fleni, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
⁵² Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism (GERO), Santiago, Chile.
⁵³ Memory and Neuropsychiatric Center (CMYN), Neurology Department, Hospital del Salvador & Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
⁵⁴ Neuropsychology and Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory (LANNEC), Physiopathology Program - Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBM), Neuroscience and East Neuroscience Departments, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
⁵⁵ Servicio de Neurología, Departamento de Medicina, Clínica Alemana-Universidad del Desarrollo, Las Condes, Chile.
⁵⁶ Division of Geriatrics, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁵⁷ Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California, USA.
⁵⁸ Gerontology, School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 38801124
DOI: 10.1002/alz.13850

Abstract

Introduction: While Latin America (LatAm) is facing an increasing burden of dementia due to the rapid aging of the population, it remains underrepresented in dementia research, diagnostics, and care.

Methods: In 2023, the Alzheimer's Association hosted its eighth satellite symposium in Mexico, highlighting emerging dementia research, priorities, and challenges within LatAm.

Results: Significant initiatives in the region, including intracountry support, showcased their efforts in fostering national and international collaborations; genetic studies unveiled the unique genetic admixture in LatAm; researchers conducting emerging clinical trials discussed ongoing culturally specific interventions; and the urgent need to harmonize practices and studies, improve diagnosis and care, and use affordable biomarkers in the region was highlighted.

Discussion: The myriad of topics discussed at the 2023 AAIC satellite symposium highlighted the growing research efforts in LatAm, providing valuable insights into dementia biology, genetics, epidemiology, treatment, and care.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Hispanics; Latin America; biomarkers; dementia; genetics.

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