AD/PD 2022 | The future of Alzheimer’s disease research

Current understanding of dementia is rudimentary, and more research is necessary to fully understand the disease. Thomas Südhof, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, Standford, CA, discusses the next steps of investigation into Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid beta (Aβ) and its accumulated plaques are a sign of a detrimental effect, but how this happens biologically and how to approach this therapeutically is unclear. The pressure for immediate therapeutic intervention has led to many clinical trials, however these have shown little success. Prof. Südhof suggests cell biology-focused research is necessary, to investigate how the gene mutations associated with Alzheimer’s disease cause, or predispose patients to, the disease. This interview took place at the AD/PD™ 2022 Conference in Barcelona, Spain.