15th Panhellenic Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (P.I.C.A.D.)

15th Panhellenic Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (P.I.C.A.D.) 
& 7th Mediterranean Conference on Neurodegenerative Diseases (Me.Co.N.D.)

24–28 February 2027 | KEDEA – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki, Greece

The Countdown Begins!

From 24 to 28 February 2027, Thessaloniki will host the 15th Panhellenic Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (P.I.C.A.D.) and the 7th Mediterranean Conference on Neurodegenerative Diseases (Me.Co.N.D.), at the KE.D.E.A. (Aristotle University Research Dissemination Center) – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH).

This important scientific meeting will bring together healthcare professionals, researchers, academics, and experts in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerative disorders, providing an opportunity to:

• present the latest scientific findings and emerging data;
• exchange knowledge, experience, and best practices;
• discuss current developments and challenges in the field; and
• foster new scientific collaborations and professional networks.

The Conference is jointly organised by the Panhellenic Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, the 1st Propedeutic Department of Internal Medicine of AHEPA University Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the Panhellenic Federation of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders.

The Conference will be held in a hybrid format, offering participants the opportunity to attend either in person or online.

Secure Your Participation

We invite you to register and join us in Thessaloniki for this important scientific event.
REGISTER NOW

Would You Like to Present Your Work?
Submit your abstract and contribute to the scientific programme of the Conference. This is an excellent opportunity to present your research, share your findings with the scientific community, and engage with colleagues from Greece and the wider Mediterranean region.

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT

Save the Important Dates
Please plan ahead and make sure to complete your registration and, if you wish to present your work, your abstract submission within the relevant deadlines.

Timely compliance with the Conference schedule is essential for the effective organisation of the event and will contribute to the smooth preparation of both speakers and participants.

IMPORTANT DATES
For registration deadlines, abstract submission, programme updates, and all other Conference information:

For detailed information, please visit the OFFICIAL CONFERENCE WEBSITE

We look forward to welcoming you to Thessaloniki, 24–28 February 2027, and to an engaging and productive scientific meeting.

The Organising Committee


n.b. I enjoyed taking part in 2025 virtually. Blog post to follow re. 'Propedeutic' above. PJ

Tracking the Alzheimer's-Down syndrome connection

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

Communication, speech self expression personhood identity memory personality mood Extend meaningful quality of life

Age 40 most people with Down syndrome develop beta amyloid plaques in the brain — a key characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists believe this is because they have an extra copy of chromosome 21, which carries an amyloid-producing gene.Major international research effort, (ages 25+) plus siblings over five years. Multisite Alzheimer’s Biomarkers Consortium — Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) study Biomarkers, genetic background, environmental, metabolic and other physiological factors

Intergenerational angst if parent/family member a primary carer? Help families prepare for what’s going to happen potentially with their loved one

Funded by a $109 million grant from the National Institutes of Health

 My source:

Tracking the #Alzheimers-#DownSyndrome connection https://t.co/rVgyhio2LI#dementia #science @BonniBK @BlueTeamGA @NJdoc @MaryHNJ @kenjaques @tammymay1985 @chladek_david @DenzilMclaren @FromGreenhills @monibhachu @HJAhere @h2cm @RoseGold177 @WaterWorxUK @louisebrady17 @avecozave pic.twitter.com/CzqpnaPooZ

— Ian Kremer (@LEAD_Coalition) April 12, 2021

 Learn more about the study at mind.uci.edu/adrc/about

 

Planning tool for Early Onset Dementia - Mapped to Hodges' model

 This post is prompted by a tweet:

Please re-Tweet this #stillmylife planning tool for early stage #Alzheimers and other forms of #dementia from the incomparable @3SpiritUKNZ! #wellness #wellbeing #aging #geriatrics pic.twitter.com/lHd6hj1Wkh

— Ian Kremer (@LEAD_Coalition) January 27, 2018

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic --------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

Self-knowledge of symptoms - Learn about my condition Learn and stimulate the brain Use lists, what I am doing, what interests me music, places, work-experiences ... Consider interventions, record in my biography Feel safe, confront fears and anxieties What does 'well-being' look like for me Positive thoughts, dreams, aspirations Use Mental Capacity for Future Planning	- and signs  Seek environments that support me; avoid those that drain or inhibit me Use technology to create biography (Research into diagnostic journey) Take control - strategies on nutrition and health
Share biography with loved ones, friends. Tell them how they can help -  Ensure (assure) future needs are/will be met as I would like them (Hey!) I can still contribute to society so ..	- consider getting help e.g. Dementia Advisors (Guidelines for health services, esp. primary care, GP, family physicians) Mental Capacity Act, Power of Attorney, Advanced Decision Making Yes: to occupation, earning or volunteering

Apologies in advance, as the formatting may be disrupted on some devices so two lines may not scan across the care domains as intended.

As you can see this brief 'sketch' of #StillMyLife shows that the emphasis of this planning tool is well-placed. This also highlights what I have referred to as 'holistic bandwidth'. There are many claims regarding the centredness of various things, for example; student education and learning, health and nursing care, government and the way business is conducted. In this instance, the question of what is the conceptual, disciplinary and professional extent of a tool, approach, theory or practice. Is its claimed philosophical, ethical, social or other objective fully deserved? Is it person-centred, or task centred? Does it deal with the political dimensions of significance to an individual with a disabling health condition as it claims?

n.b. Note the boxes and the absence of ticks.

The Science Collaboration Framework (SCF)

My attention was drawn today (by Robert Douglas) to The Science Collaboration Framework (SCF) that is based on Drupal.

Here are some details from the SCF website:

About:

Interdisciplinary research programs at Harvard and elsewhere naturally tend to be distributed geographically, across campuses and departments. Effective collaboration for these programs requires the ability to bridge distance, which in turn implies digital collaboration, and therefore abilities to publish and discuss on-line content such as articles, news, and perspectives; to provide semantic context to on-line content for more powerful interactions within multiple sub-disciplines and to integrate as well as distinguish the individual contributions of many scientific workers.

The Scientific Collaboration Framework (SCF) is reusable software that can be used to develop web-based, collaborative, scientific communities. The framework is designed to support interdisciplinary scientists in publishing, annotating, sharing and discussing content such as articles, perspectives, interviews and news items, as well as assert personal biographies and research interests – the basics of any online community. These web materials can then be linked to external, heterogeneous knowledge repositories of life science resources such as genes, antibodies, cell-lines or model organisms. SCF, thus supports structured “Web 2.0” style community discourse amongst researchers, makes various data resources available to the collaborating scientist and captures the semantics of the relationship among the discourse and resources.

Our framework is based on Drupal – a popular content management system that is highly extensible and has a thriving ecosystem of contributed modules. SCF includes new modules for managing publications, interviews, member information, news items, announcements, and biological entities (e.g., genes). The framework is freely available as a Drupal distribution; however the modules can be used a la carte as well.

SCF is a project of the Initiative in Innovative Computing at Harvard University in collaboration with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. The first instance of SCF is being adopted by StemBook (stembook.org) – a comprehensive, open-access collection of original, peer-reviewed chapters covering topics related to Stem Cell Biology. A joint project with Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF) to develop a community site for Parkinson's researchers is under development. SCF is also being evaluated by several other communities.

Publications:
Sudeshna Das, Tom Green, Louis Weitzman, Alister Lewis-Bowen & Tim Clark. Linked Data in a Scientific Collaboration Framework. 17th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2008), Beijing, China.

I am particularly interested in SCF since as noted above "the modules can be used a la carte as well." The potential of putting this together with the Drupal Education distribution is really exciting. I still believe that SVG (or similar) has a role to play for my plans. In the meantime though back to Drupal version 6.9....

Additional links:

Alzforum

The Times: Virus clue to cause of Alzheimer’s

From The Times
December 6, 2008

Virus clue to cause of Alzheimer’s

Cheap cold sore drugs could offer best treatment yet


Mark Henderson, Science Editor

The virus that causes cold sores may be one of the main causes of Alzheimer’s disease, according to research that suggests that existing drugs could be used to treat the most common form of dementia.

Compelling new evidence found by British scientists has implicated the cold sore virus, known as herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1), in up to 60 per cent of Alzheimer’s cases.

Though the findings from the University of Manchester remain preliminary, they could transform scientific understanding of a brain disorder that affects more than 400,000 people in Britain, and open an entirely new approach to treating it.