The purpose of the International Research Conference, Varna 2020 (IRC AD, Varna 2020), is to promote a discussion on the emerging new directions in Alzheimer's disease research. The conference in Varna, Bulgaria, a member of the EU, will provide a venue within the reach of the Eastern European countries’ teams working on Alzheimer's disease. While funding opportunities for Eastern European countries have recently become more and more accessible to them, a discussion promoting collaborative research between AD research teams in those countries with teams at academic institutions in the USA and Western European countries will provide expanded opportunities and help in accomplishing goals relevant to early diagnosis and new therapeutic approaches in AD.
The idea, the scope of topics, timing, and venue of the meeting have been inspired by the extremely successful meeting three years ago – Alzheimer's disease, Varna-2017. The 2017 meeting in Varna was attended by more than 120 researchers, physicians, young professionals, neurologists and psychiatrists, postdocs and graduate students, and community representatives, all from 19 different countries. The scientific topics were presented and moderated by internationally renowned experts in AD research from the USA, UK, Western European countries, Israel and Asia. The presentation of 34 posters by postdocs and residents was one of the most remarkable features of the meeting.
The conference will be a 3-day meeting in Varna, Bulgaria, October 16th – 18th, 2020. The major funding is expected to be provided by the National Institute on Aging, which is part of the National Institutes of Health of the United States (NIA/NIH), the Medical University - Varna (MUV), Bulgaria Grant - "TransBrain", part of the Bulgarian National Program “European Scientific Networks”, awarded to the MUV, Bulgarian Science and Research Foundation, and private sources.
IRC AD - Varna 2020, will put a major effort to expand the knowledge of young professionals, postdocs, and graduate students on the emerging concepts in AD research, as well as the impact of those concepts in developing new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. At this meeting we are planning oral presentations by young investigators at each of the sessions and round table discussions with young scientists and speakers. The venue will be Flamingo Grand Hotel.
We believe the participation of leading European, internationally renowned scientists in important areas of AD research, the involvement of trainees, young investigators, and a strong contingent of USA AD researchers will significantly contribute to the success of the meeting. The speakers and moderators will share their latest scientific achievements and will establish new collaborations, hopefully with research teams working on the Balkan Peninsula, where the level of research and diagnosis of AD are in their very beginning.
We are considering a program with the following themes and major topics:
1. Metabolic dysregulation in Alzheimer's disease: molecular mechanisms and translational implications:
a. Intracellular protein degradation; unfolded protein response and ER stress; cell senescence and mitochondrial dysfunction;
b. Interactions between peripheral organs and brain in the context of Alzheimer’s disease –extracellular vesicles and communications between peripheral organs and brain;
c. Nutrition, lifestyle and prevention; physical activity and intellectual exercise.
2. Understanding the role of inflammatory mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease: microglia, TREM2 and APOE:
a. Gene-gene, gene-environmental interactions, and how they translate to the level of a phenotype;
b. Animal models and human studies.
3. Early diagnosis: imaging and “biofluid biomarkers”:
a. State-of-the-art of “old but good” practices;
b. How promising are biofluid biomarkers and how do we go forward;
c. MultiOmix approaches in Alzheimer’s disease – from fundamental mechanisms to early diagnosis;
d. What are the lessons learned from failures of Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials?
e. Biobanking in the EU and the USA
4. Metabolic disorders and Alzheimer's disease in the Eastern European countries: what is different?
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